Hermione Granger and the Wizards of Mahoutokoro
by nocte-caelum
Summary: As the golden trio enters their fourth year at Hogwarts, they find yet another year of adventure in the form of the Triwizard Tournament. But what would happen if Beauxbatons Academy did not attend, and were instead replaced with some special visitors from Japan... Mentor!Snape, Weasley!Bashing, Good!Draco, a lot of AU and OOC-ness. Revised.
1. Prologue

**And so I return to fanfiction! I know, I know, it's been ages, but this is a little thing I started working on over the summer when I had no wifi and I was running out of mobile data. The idea actually came to me a few months ago - I've read a few Harry Potter x Fairy Tail fics, but none of them used this idea (last I checked) which was kind of weird, because it's a pretty good one - Fairy Tail/Mahoutokoro participates in the Triwizard Tournament.**

 **Anyway, on with the story, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I'm enjoying writing it •^_^•**

 **Disclaimer: I do not have the first name Hiro, nor the last name Rowling. Enough said.**

* * *

 _Dumbledore's office, 3rd August 1994_

"Now that you're all here, we shall began," Barty Crouch, head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation said as Igor Karkaroff strode into the room and sat down beside Headmaster Dumbledore and Headmistress Maxime.

"As I am sure you are aware, the Ministry are planning on reviving the tri-wizard tournament. The schools that normally compete in this tournament are the three you are in charge of: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. However, with the revival of the tournament, we have decided to make a few changes. The main one is this: since the competition is supposed to support international cooperation, but currently is only held between three schools in Europe, we have decided to include Mahoutokoro Wizarding school from Japan. Unfortunately, though, this is a tri-wizard tournament - so there can only be three competing schools. You are here today to decide which of you will compete and which will not."

Almost as soon as he had finished speaking, Headmistress Maxime sprung to her feet. " _Monsieur_ , I believe that it would be best if Beauxbatons did not compete in this tournament. We will allow Mahoutokoro to take our place." With this, she bowed her head and left through the floo, the three men behind her looking shocked.

Barty Crouch gave a small smile. "Well at least that was easier than I would've thought," he said to himself.

He pulled a strange silver box, similar in appearance to a muggle phone from his pocket and tapped it three times. A small hologram appeared above of an elderly man with a big grin.

"Barty! How are ya!" The old man cried, as if greeting an old friend.

"Headmaster Dreyer, it's lovely to see you again. Could you please come quickly to Hogwarts - we have much to discuss," Barty replied, wasting little time on pleasantries. Makarov nodded and the image disappeared.

Turning to the other two men in the room, and seeing their confused faces he explained. "This is a communication lacrima - a small crystal infused with a certain type of magical energy that allows people to communicate over a long distance, similar to a muggle phone. This lacrima was in fact invented by one of Headmaster Dreyer's past pupils - a rather brilliant man, I must say. The Headmaster will be with us shortly."

A knock at the door made everyone jump slightly.

Dumbledore called a house elf to let their visitor in, and was surprised when he was met by the sight of a short old man being carried by a much larger, more muscled one.

"Hello, gentlemen. You must be Albus Dumbledore and Igor Karakaroff. Pleased to make your acquaintances." Makarov Dreyer went to shake their hands, before realising he was still being held. "You can put me down now, Laxus."

He greeted the Headmasters before turning to Barty. "Good to see ya, Barty!" He grinned even more.

"This is my grandson, Laxus. He's head of the Fairy Tail guild - our guilds are like your houses. Now, I believe we have a tournament to discuss." Makarov jumped up into a chair, and Laxus followed him, albeit somewhat reluctantly.

Barty turned to face the others again, and began to speak. "Now, as I explained to Igor and Albus earlier, the tri-wizard tournament is being revived, but will be quite a bit different.

"The original purpose of this tournament was to promote inter-school unity on a global scale, however the event has, in the past, done little more than drive up the competitive spirit between schools. The tournament will still have the same general rules and regulations: three different champions from three different schools are to compete in three events, one every three months - however, instead of having separate accommodation as normal, visiting students will reside in the host school.

"For example, this year Hogwarts will be hosting the tournament. Visiting students from Durmstrang and Mahoutokoro will be sorted by the hat and stay in their houses for the duration of the visit. It is hoped that this will help improve inter-school relationships, and even form friendships. Any questions?"

Dumbledore, Karkaroff and Makarov shook their heads. Barty inclined his head. "Good then, I will be seeing you gentlemen at a later date." Picking up his briefcase, Barty stepped into the floo and was engulfed by emerald flames. Igor Karkaroff followed quickly after.

"Headmaster Dreyer-" Dumbledore began speaking, but the shorter man quickly interrupted him.

"Just call me Makarov, Headmaster Dumbledore."

"Very well, Makarov, call me Albus. I was just wondering, how did you get here so fast? As far as I'm aware there are no open floo networks from Japan to Britain, and I can't imagine you would have managed to get hold of a long-distance portkey on such short notice."

Makarov smiled and gestured towards Laxus. "My Grandson here is an exceedingly powerful lightning mage. He can transform himself and up to one other passenger into lightning and transport them to a chosen destination faster than the speed of light."

Laxus dipped his head slightly in acknowledgment of the old man's praise.

"Most interesting. I have only ever read about the astonishing powers of Eastern wizards - it appears they are even more impressive than books will tell us," Albus said, stroking his beard. Makarov stood to leave. "Goodbye, Makarov. I hope to hear from you before the event."

Makarov grinned at him and jumped into Laxus' arms. "You can count on it, Albus. I can only deal with my brats for so long before I need the company of someone closer to my age - who isn't my wife or those idiots on the magic council." With that, he and Laxus disappeared in a flash of light.

* * *

 _Meanwhile, in Headmistress Maxime's office_

 _Oh thank god for that. Now me and my students don't have to get involved with that school_. Headmistress Maxime thought, shrugging off her cloak and laying it on a chair.

She poured herself a cup of tea and sat behind her desk. _Dumbledore is perfectly nice, as are his staff and pupils, but such strange things happen there. Possessed teachers, murderous basilisks and escaped convicts - c'est très horrible!_

* * *

 _Mahoutokoro school, main hall_

"Alright, listen up brats!" All of the students looked up at their Headmaster as he stood on the balcony, ready to make an announcement.

"For the first time ever, Mahoutokoro has been invited to participate in the tri-wizard tournament, this year hosted by Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in England. It will be like our inter-guild Grand Magic Games, except more deadly, so no fooling around. Since we can't take all of you, I have a list here of the people who are going. If your name is on this list, when we reach Hogwarts you will be eligible to put your name in the Goblet of Fire - a magical artefact that is to choose the champion of each school. The full explanation of rules will be given during the great feast after we arrive, so without further ado, here is who will be attending:

"From Fairy Tail we have: Natsu Dragneel, Lucy Heartfilia, Happy, Erza Scarlet, Gray Fullbuster, Elfman Strauss, Lisanna Strauss, Cana Alberona, Juvia Locksar, Wendy Marvell, Carla, Romeo Conbolt, Gajeel Redfox, Panther-Lily and Levy McGarden.

"From Sabertooth we have: Rogue Cheney, Minerva Orland, Rufus Lore, Orga Nanagear, Yukino Auguria, Frosch and Lector.

"From Blue Pegasus we have: Hibiki Lates, Ren Akatsuki, Eve Tearm and Jenny Realight.

"And last but not least, from Lamia Scale we have: Lyon Vastia, Sherry Blendy, Chelia Blendy, Toby, Yuka and Meredy Milkovitch.

"Several teachers will also be accompanying us: Professors Bickslow, Evergreen, Freed, Mira, Jellal and Ultear along with Deputy Headmaster Mystogan and your head of houses."

Makarov left the balcony, and the hall erupted in cheers and congratulations to those who were going. The Fairy Tail guild partied particularly hard, and in the morning had a stern telling off from Laxus who was none too pleased about having to get up early to zap his students awake.

* * *

 **A/N - Yayyy, I've always imagined Laxus zapping people awake in the mornings and I just couldn't resist... What do you all think? Leave a review (but no flames please, because remember kids, fire burns)**


	2. Chapter 1: Arrival

**Thanks to all of you who favourited and followed so far •^_^•**

 **Disclaimer: Whilst I am a blonde british female, I am not an internationally acclaimed author, and though I try to draw manga, I suck at it.**

* * *

 _Herbology Greenhouses, Hogwarts_

As the young witches and wizards of Hogwarts' fourth year herbology class were doing their work, many were talking in hushed voices and whispers about the visiting students that were due to arrive that day.

Suddenly, their conversations were interrupted by a sharp cry from Hermione Granger, who was pointing up at the sky. Currently overhead was the hull of a large, blue, flying ship, with the name _Christina_ printed across the bottom.

The students began to talk excitedly, and Professor Sprout told them to be quiet. "Quickly students, remove your gloves and follow me to the lake, we are going to greet them," she said, smiling widely.

Within a few minutes, the class was down by the lake, half of them staring up at _Christina_ and half staring at the large viking-style boat currently coming across the lake.

The viking boat was first to arrive, and many young men and women in fur coats and caps disembarked - Durmstrang, and their headmaster Igor Karkaroff. Soon after, _Christina_ landed, and the students of Mahoutokoro jumped over the sides. The teachers exited in a slightly more dignified way, through the door, as did their headmaster, Makarov. They were all dressed differently, and made an extremely colourful bunch. One particular pinkette was talking animatedly and wouldn't stop moving, before being knocked out by a strikingly beautiful red-head. Hermione had to stifle a laugh at that. Silencing the crowd with a single gesture, Headmaster Dumbledore stepped forward to greet them.

"Welcome, friends, to Hogwarts. If any of you require anything at all, just ask a student or teacher for assistance, and they will at least point you in the right direction. Now, if you would please follow me to the great hall - your classes too, Professor Sprout and Madame Hooch - once the others join us, we will begin the sorting ceremony and welcoming feast."

* * *

 _Hogwarts Great Hall_

"Woah, can you believe this place, Luce?! The ceiling's so cool!" Natsu's eyes were practically saucers as he took in everything in the Great Hall - from the charmed ceiling to the magical food and even the students. Lucy giggled at his childish antics, but agreed. Professor McGonagall carried the sorting hat and stool in and placed in front of the teachers dais. Immediately, all chatter ceased as the students waited eagerly for the sorting.

Headmaster Dumbledore rose from his seat. "We will now commence with the sorting, so that our guests can relax and enjoy the feast. Mahoutokoro will go first." He sat back down again.

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat and read the first name from a very long scroll. "Akatsuki, Ren." Ren strode forward, giving a small smile to his girlfriend, Sherry. He sat on the stool and the hat was placed on his head. " _Hmmm...Ren Akatsuki, are you? I see knowledge hidden behind your icy facade, plenty of knowledge. But I don't think Ravenclaw is the place for you to go. No, better be_...SLYTHERIN!" Ren stood up and went over to his new table, greeting those closest to him. Professor McGonagall read out the next name. "Alberona, Cana."

As Cana walked to the stool, she got plenty of wolf-whistles from the boys at the Gryffindor table, and winked at them. " _Oh my. I applaud your level of alcohol tolerance, young lady. The liquor does cloud your thoughts somewhat, but...I can see you are a strong, brave individual. Yes, you I know for sure belong in_...GRYFFINDOR!"

The sorting continued like this for a while, and Hermione zoned out after McGonagall reached the L's. After the last student, _Vastia, Lyon_ , had been sorted, Headmaster Dumbledore stood again, this time with a box in his hands.

He walked down the steps of the dais to a special platform and opened the box, withdrawing the Goblet of Fire. He placed it on the pedestal and faced the students. "As you may already know, this cup is the Goblet of Fire. Any student who meets the age requirements may enter their name in this Goblet, and when the time for the tournament to begin is upon us, it will select a champion for each school. For those of you wishing to know the age guidelines, any Durmstrang or Hogwarts students must be 17 or older, and all Mahoutokoro students are allowed to enter. To enter, simply write your name and school on a piece of paper before putting it into the Goblet. Now, enjoy the feast!" Dumbledore returned to his seat, and began talking with McGonagall about the lack of restrictions on the visiting Japanese students.

The dragon-slayers amongst said Japanese students winced at the noise level and excused themselves for the night. Hermione Granger had also finished her meal, and offered to show them to their common rooms. They accepted, and the seven left the Great Hall.

Hermione led them to the kitchens. "Don't tell anyone I let you in, because no one other than a Hufflepuff is supposed to know about this," she turned towards Wendy, who was holding Frosch. "There are actually repelling charms against intruders, so I can't open the barrel or go in with you, but you should be able to find your way easily enough. Just ask Helga's portrait where your dorm is - you can't miss it. Now, if you're ready to go in, tap on this barrel twice then three times - to the rhythm of Hel-ga Huff-le-puff."

Wendy nodded at her and tapped on the barrel. It opened, and she turned to say good night to her fellow dragon-slayers and thank Hermione. "And Rogue," the young girl said softly, catching the attention of one of the dark-haired boys. "Don't worry - I'll take care of Frosch." She crawled through the barrel and it closed after her. Hermione smiled. "Alright, we'll head to Ravenclaw next. When we get there, you'll have to answer a riddle to enter. It's in one of the towers, like Gryffindor."

They walked to Ravenclaw tower mostly in silence, with a few random facts about the parts of the school they passed through from Hermione. When they got there, Gajeel and Rogue had no problem getting in, and thanked Hermione before heading off to get some rest. The brunette yawned.

"One more stop now." She murmured, eyes half-closed with tiredness. When they reached the Fat Lady's portrait she gave the password, and entered the common room.

She turned to face Natsu, Laxus and Sting, who was carrying a sleeping Lector. "Alright, if there's anything you need to know about, I suggest you ask now. There's an enchantment on the girls staircase that prevents boys from climbing it, so you won't be able to reach me after this." Laxus and Sting shook their heads but Natsu looked confused.

"What about the boys staircase? Is there something to stop girls from climbing that too?" He asked, and Hermione smiled.

"No. The Founders of Hogwarts believed that girls were more responsible than boys, so they didn't feel the need to place an enchantment to stop them." Hermione yawned a good night and went up to the girls dormitories.

The boys shrugged and headed up to their dormitories, asking one of the portraits which dorms they were in. Natsu was in with Gray, and two kids called Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. Laxus had a room to himself, as he was much older than the students, and Sting, who was the youngest staff member, was sharing with Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas.

* * *

 **A/N - Just a short chapter to introduce our beloved Fairy Tail to the haven that is Hogwarts. I love to hear your opinions, so leave a review to make me happy •^_^•**


	3. Chapter 2: Introductions

**Aha, this chapter ended up being a _bit_ longer than the others. ****As in about three times longer. This is probably a one time thing, just to be clear, (sorry to disappoint, but I'll aim to update at least twice a week to make up for it) I just couldn't find a place to stop and start the next chapter...**

 **Anyway - thanks to you wonderful reviewers, and those of you who followed/favourited!**

 **Disclaimer: As always, I do not own any of these wonderful fictional worlds, no matter how much I wish I did...**

 ***Thanks to SoraSoraNoMi for catching that little blip about Harry's nimbus XD! It's sorted now, don't worry!**

* * *

After Fred and George's _very_ loud celebration party in the common room last night, Harry and Ron only got a few hours sleep. So they weren't very happy when they were woken up at six by their new dorm mates arguing.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY, YOU STRIPPER?!" Natsu screamed, an cocoon of flames around him.

"YOU HEARD ME, FLAME BRAIN!" Gray replied, just as loudly, with an icy aura.

"DROOPY EYES!"

"SQUINTY EYES"

"ICE PRINCESS!"

"TABASCO BREATH!"

"PERVY POP-"

Their little contest was cut short by Harry and Ron stupefying both of them before falling back into bed, groaning.

An hour later, the two Hogwarts boys woke up properly, got dressed and went down to breakfast - completely forgetting about Natsu and Gray, who were somewhere on the floor in the dormitory. Fortunately for the visiting students, Hermione noticed that the loud pinkette and his friend were missing. She walked over to Harry and Ron who were busy stuffing their faces with food. "Morning boys, where are the newbies?" Harry and Ron looked at each other worriedly, then at Hermione.

"Aha, they must still be asleep! I'll go check on them," Harry said nervously.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at them - she could tell they were hiding something. "No, no. You two finish your breakfasts, I _insist_ \- I'll go check."

Needless to say, Harry and Ron had a stern telling off from their brunette friend, and had to apologise to Natsu and Gray.

The two visiting boys sat with Hermione, and the trio were soon joined by a busty blonde and beautiful red-head. The blonde smiled at Hermione, whilst the red-head hit Natsu over the head.

"Natsu! What have I _told_ you about _table_ _manners_?!" She hissed at him. He gulped.

"Sorry Erza, it won't happen again!" He cried, rubbing his throbbing head. The blonde grinned and turned to Hermione.

"Hi, my name's Lucy, and this is Erza! It's nice to meet you!" She said brightly. Hermione smiled back at her.

"It's nice to meet you too, Lucy and Erza. If you don't mind me asking, what are their names?" She gestured towards Natsu, who had resumed inhaling his food, and Gray who had somehow lost his shirt.

Erza's expression became scary, and she glared at the boys. "They didn't even tell you their names?! _Bakas_!" Erza started hititng them again as they yelped, and Lucy answered Hermione's question.

"The pinkette is Natsu, and the one Erza is currently hitting is Gray. Don't worry about his stripping habit - when he was younger he'd train in his underwear so it's a subconscious thing. He does it all the time." By this point, Gray had also misplaced his trousers, and was standing there in nothing but a pair of boxers. Erza lost interest in hitting the boys, now that they were unconscious, and she and Lucy sat down on either side of Hermione.

"So," Hermione said, "which houses are you two in?"

"Gryffindor," Lucy replied.

"Ravenclaw," said Erza.

"Cool! I'm a Gryffindor, but if I had to move houses I would go to Ravenclaw."

The conversation continued on the topic of houses - Lucy said she wouldn't mind being a Hufflepuff, and Erza would be happy in Gryffindor - before Lucy asked if Hermione knew which houses the boys were in. "Oh yes, they're both Gryffindors," she replied.

"Not to sound rude, but how do you know that - I wasn't paying much attention in the ceremony, and Erza was quite nervous," Lucy said.

Hermione grinned. "Neither did I, to be honest! I ended up showing Natsu and a few others - a couple of guys and a girl - to their dorms last night. They wanted to go early, I think it was too loud or something? Anyway, Natsu kept complaining about being in the same house as 'that stripper' who I'm guessing was Gray. Plus they're sharing a dorm with my best friends, Harry and Ron, who stupefied them this morning and forgot - I had to go up and unfreeze them!" Lucy and Erza grinned at her annoyed tone when talking about Harry and Ron. It seemed that the male Hogwarts students were just as irritating as the Mahoutokoro ones.

"Hermione, did the girl you were talking about have long blue hair, and one of the guys have loads of piercings?" Erza inquired, and Hermione nodded. "Aah, they were the dragon slayers then." At Hermione's confused look, Lucy elaborated.

"Their branch of magic is that which gives them some dragon aspects - Natsu is a fire dragon slayer, so he has dragon lungs to breathe fire, dragon scales to dissolve fire and dragon claws to attack with fire." Hermione looked quite pale and slightly ill at this. _Is_ _this some sort of wandless_ _magic?_ She thought.

"What magic do you use?" The blonde asked cheerily.

"Pardon?" Hermione was confused. _What magic? A wand, of course_ , she was thinking.

"I'm a celestial wizard, Erza uses requip magic and Gray is an ice wizard." Lucy took out Plue's key. "Open! Gate of Canis Minor! Nikola!" She yelled, and in a burst of golden light Plue appeared. "Pu-pu-puun!" He said cutely. Hermione thought the little creature was absolutely adorable, but had no idea what was going on.

"What kind of spell is that!" She exclaimed. Lucy was confused.

"What do you mean spell? The only spells I know are Urano Metria and Godfried." Now both Hermione and Lucy were confused.

Erza interrupted. "Allow me to clarify. Headmaster Makarov informed me that western mages use different magic to us, so Jellal and I researched it before we came. In this civilisation, Mages, or Wizards, use wooden sticks with magic cores known as 'wands' to conduct their magic. Their magic is more versatile than ours, as if there is a spell for something, they can perform it. There are spells for anything from levitating and healing to stunning and creating fire." This explanation satisfied Lucy, but Hermione was still confused about what Eastern magic was. "In Japan and other Eastern countries, our Wizards are either born with a magical affinity or learn magic from an outside source. I, as a requip mage, can magically change my armour and weapons, and Lucy can summon spirits from another realm to help her fight. Our magic is inherent, but then you have Natsu and Gray who learned magic; Gray from his mentor, Ur, and Natsu from his adoptive father Igneel." Hermione took a moment to absorb this new information - shocked was too little a word to describe how she felt in that moment.

Natsu and Gray had regained consciousness, and Natsu grinned when he heard Igneel's name. "Yeah, Igneel was the best! He taught me everything I know."

"Wait a minute, can humans teach one another dragon slaying magic?" She inquired, looking thoughtful.

Natsu shook his head. "I don't think so."

"Well then how did you learn it from Igneel?" She was confused again.

Suddenly a voice cried out from above her head. "Don't be silly - Igneel wasn't human, he was a _dragon_!"

Hermione turned white suddenly. "I...don't feel so good," she whispered, before passing out.

Probably a result of a mixture of the new information, and the fact that the deliverer of said information was a cat.

A blue, talking, _flying_ cat.

It had _wings_ for God's sake!

Hermione was still mentally freaking out as she came to, but managed to calm down.

She smiled wanly at the two girls looking concernedly at her.

"Are you okay, Hermione?" Lucy asked, eyes narrowed in concern.

"Oh, yeah, I just wasn't expecting...that!" She replied.

Natsu frowned. "Happy isn't a 'that'!" Prompting an enthusiastic reply from the...cat.

"Sorry...Happy," Hermione said, stumbling over the name. _I'm_ _talking to a blue_ _cat that has wings and can talk_ back _to_ _me..._ she thought to herself. _Not_ _exactly_ _how I_ _imagined_ _this_ _term_ _going_. "Well, I don't suppose you guys want a tour before classes start tomorrow?" She asked, and they all nodded. Erza pulled Natsu away from his food, and they headed towards the library.

When they were heading upstairs, the staircase they were on began to move, and Hermione groaned. Now it would take almost twice as long. Her attention was caught by the other groaning person in their group. Natsu was hung halfway over the bannister, looking incredibly ill. "What's wrong with him?" She asked Lucy, genuinely concerned for the pinkette's health.

"Motion sickness," the blonde replied simply. "All dragon slayers have it really bad - I think Laxus is the best at hiding it, and Natsu's the worst, but Gajeel, Sting and Rogue aren't much better than him. Wendy's young so she doesn't have it as bad as the guys."

Hermione looked thoughtful for a second. "Y'know, I'm sure I could find a potion to help with it."

Lucy gaped at her. "That would be . . . amazing! No more train journeys being terrified of him throwing up all over my new shoes! Most of the time Erza has to knock him out." Lucy was still smiling when they got to the library.

When they went in, one of the boys that Hermione had shown to the Ravenclaw common room yesterday was sat at a table reading a book.

"Rogue!" Natsu said, completely recovered from his ordeal on the stairs. "Fight me!"

"Shut up, Natsu," he replied, eyes never leaving the page. "You'd burn this place to a crisp."

Hermione went as white as a sheet at thought of her sanctuary going up in flames, and tried to get Natsu closer to the door. Oblivious to her attempts, the pinkette just kept bugging Rogue until he sighed and put his book down.

"No, please, not in here!" Hermione begged, eyes pleading. Rogue snapped his fingers and the shadows lunged for Natsu, grabbing him and snuffing out his flames before throwing him out the window. Hermione gasped, and Rogue just rolled his eyes.

"He'll be fine - don't worry. He's gone through worse - at least the trees should break his fall," he said reassuringly.

"Yeah," Lucy interjected. "There was this one time he fell out of a twelfth storey window onto a concrete pavement and bounced. Bounced." She snorted at the memory, and Hermione smiled.

"I don't think I properly introduced myself last night, that was rude of me - I was simply trying to escape from the noise. My name is Rogue Cheney. And yours?" Rogue asked politely.

"Hermione Granger. So you're a Ravenclaw?" She replied, just as politely, and the two engaged in civil conversation.

Lucy had spied a blue haired friend of hers and they were giggling over a book in the corner, whilst Erza hit Gray over the head for something, and Happy had gone to search for Natsu. Suddenly the peace and quiet was disrupted by the very same fire breather flying through the window, assisted by his little blue friend.

"I'M BAAACK!" He yelled, flames actually shooting out of his mouth. Looking round he spied Rogue and his eyes narrowed. But before the fire wizard could get any closer, Hermione whipped her wand out.

" _Aguamenti_! _Stupefy_!" She said, and Natsu's flames were doused and he and Happy were frozen. Hermione turned to the others, who were all staring at her. "I think it's probably time to continue - don't you?" She said, and the others agreed. She turned to the bluenette and Rogue. "Do you two want to join us?" She asked, and they nodded their assent. The group continued, with two new members and Erza carrying the frozen Natsu under one arm and Happy under the other.

This time Hermione took them to the owlery. "I don't know if you have owls, but here in the Western Wizarding world we use them to deliver post and messages, as muggle devices - sorry, 'muggle' is the British term for non-magical beings - tend to go a bit haywire around magic," Hermione said, and whistled. A beautiful tawny owl with eyes the same hazel shade as her own ghosted through the air and landed on her outstretched arm.

At only 10 inches tall, Bramble was small for a magical owl, but she had the uncanny ability to find anyone, anywhere - it was like concealment wards didn't work against her. She was also an incredibly affectionate owl, and Hermione petted her in the same way she did with Crookshanks.

She glanced up at the visiting students, who looked quite awed at the beautiful creature, and Bramble cooed at them. She flew off Hermione's arm and landed on Rogue's shoulder. Hermione had to suppress a grin at the surprise on his face, but she was surprised herself - Bramble didn't normally like strangers. She told him as much, and apologised for her owl's forwardness, but Rogue told her not to worry, and smiled at the little owl he was petting.

After this, Hermione took the group to see all the main sights of Hogwarts: from the common room entrances and the kitchens to the Quidditch pitch and the Black Lake. They even visited Hagrid, although they didn't stay for long.

Finally, Hermione led a very tired group of students down a certain hallway. When they reached the end, she turned and looked at the others, before grinning like an idiot. "This is probably my favourite room in Hogwarts - even more so than the library!" She said excitedly, and started pacing backwards and forwards in front of a blank wall.

Much to the Mahoutokoro students' surprise, a door appeared. Now the seemingly dead end Hermione had led them to was no longer a dead end. They all went in through the door, and were awed by the room that awaited them. It was like someone took every single magical object they had ever encountered and piled it all up in one room - there were mountains of brooms alone! Having led the group to a small area with some beanbags, Hermione flopped down, and gestured to the others to do the same before explaining what exactly this room was.

"This is the Room of Requirement. It appears in whatever form the caster most needs at that point in time - hence its name. This is its default form, as I just wanted to show you an example rather than a specific area. I don't know exactly how the magic works, but as far as I can gather it can provide you with almost anything except food," she said, and Natsu raised his hand like a little kid.

"Can you change the room when you're inside?" He asked eagerly, and Hermione tilted her head thoughtfully.

"I've never actually tried it, but possibly. Wanna give it a shot?" Natsu nodded, and closed his eyes in concentration. Suddenly, the objects around them melted away, and Hermione found herself sat in a large rustic living area. There were tables and chairs scattered everywhere, and at either end of the room was a stage and a bar.

"What is this place?" Hermione asked, and Natsu grinned.

"This is the Fairy Tail guild hall!" He said, making no sense whatsoever to Hermione. Lucy rolled her eyes and took pity on the brunette.

"In the same way that you guys have houses, we have guilds. There's Fairy Tail - the guild that Natsu, Gray, Erza, Happy, Levy and I belong to. Then there's Sabertooth - Rogue's guild - Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale. And I guess our guild halls would be like your common rooms." Hermione nodded, and Natsu dragged the blonde away to see if everything was the same as the real guild hall.

Levy found a door to the library and went to pick up some books she'd left back in Japan, and Erza, Gray and Happy went with Natsu and Lucy. Now only Hermione and Rogue were left.

"So," Hermione started. "What's Mahoutokoro like?"

Rogue gave a small smile. "Well, I'm not quite sure what happens in the younger years, as my older brother Sting and I joined when I was in my 2nd year and he in his 6th. Most students start at the preparatory school from the age of seven and begin boarding at eleven, so that's the main difference. Mahoutokoro also has their guild system like your sorting hat, except students choose which guild to join. They can also move guilds - with some difficulty - if the need arises. We have Headmaster Makarov Dreyer, whom most call 'Gramps' or 'Master' and Deputy Headmaster Mystogan Fernandes, who are in charge of the school. Then we have the guild masters - like your head of houses. Laxus Dreyer, the Master's grandson, is Fairy Tail's guildmaster, Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki is Blue Pegasus' guildmaster, Jura Neekis is Lamia Scale's guildmaster, and my adoptive brother Sting Eucliffe is Sabertooth's guildmaster. He was made a guildmaster pretty soon after he graduated - he's the youngest person to ever hold that position!" Rogue said, talking enthusiastically about his brother.

"That's so cool! I wonder what guild I'd be in..." Hermione started thinking.

Rogue tilted his head thoughtfully. "Lamia Scale are very cool and collected, the calm, quiet scholarly type. You're definitely smart enough, but I think you have too much of a tendency to act rashly - not that that's a bad thing. Blue Pegasus is for the players and beauty queens, and whilst you're certainly very pretty, you wouldn't quite fit there either. I guess that just leaves Sabertooth and Fairy Tail. They're pretty similar, except Fairy Tail is a lot more...rowdy. Personally, I think you'd do well in Sabertooth," Rogue decided, and Hermione was listening to his every word, desperate to learn all she could about the other school.

"It does sound wonderful!" She said excitedly, and Rogue smiled at her.

"You know, if you wanted to I'm sure Sting could make you an honorary member - you could even take the mark! If that was something you would like, I mean," he said, and Hermione grinned so widely that it seemed her face might split.

"Oh, that would be wonderful! If it's not too much trouble, that is. What's the mark?" She asked.

"When a new member joins the guild, the guildmaster stamps them with the guild mark, so that others know which guild they belong to. It can't be replicated in any way, shape or form, so we use them as a means of identification - like when entering a guild hall. The member decides where on their body they want the mark, and then they can either choose the colour, or let the stamp pick for them." Hermione and Rogue were so deep in conversation that they didn't notice that the others had returned, and were waiting for them.

Hermione looked up and jumped slightly. "Hey guys, the tour's over now, so I don't know what you want to do...have you got your schedules yet?" They all shook their heads. "Okay, we can head to Professor McGonagall's office and see if she has them. I mean, I'm sure they'll be handed out either at breakfast tomorrow or Monday, but if you wanted to see them beforehand...?" She trailed off, and everyone nodded.

Hermione grinned and stood up, and they left the Room of Requirement. Natsu gaped as the door they stepped out of vanished. "Wicked! Does it do that when we're inside as well?" Hermione chuckled and nodded. "So cool!" He muttered under his breath.

They walked through the corridors until they reached Professor McGonagall's office. Hermione knocked on the door, and the Professor told them to come in.

"Hello, Professor, these are some of the Mahoutokoro students, and they were wondering whether they could have their schedules?" She said respectfully. Professor McGonagall gave a warm smile and ushered them all into her office.

"Of course, dear. Now, if you tell me your names and houses I'll just find them," the Professor said.

The visiting students told her their names, and Professor McGonagall found the schedules. Afterwards, Rogue stepped forward and asked a question. "Excuse me, sensei, but will our teachers be participating in the classes? Also, my friend Frosch, will she have classes? I'm not sure, as she's...well, sort of like a cat."

"Well, I think most the teachers are, I have a list somewhere... aha! Here we go." She cleared her throat. "Professors Bickslow, Evergreen, Freed, Mira, Jellal and Ultear will be attending classes, as will Sting Eucliffe, who I understand is head of Sabertooth. And to answer your second question, Frosch may attend classes if she wants to, I am assuming she is one of your 'exceeds', whatever they are?" Rogue nodded. "Good, would you like to take her schedule to her, and then she can decide if she wants to take classes. If there are some she wants to take, but not all, she can do that as well."

"Thank you, Professor McGonagall. Would you mind if we gave a few of our other friends their schedules as well?" The Professor shook her head. "Thank you, could we have Gajeel Redfox's from Ravenclaw, Sting Eucliffe's from Gryffindor, Wendy Marvell's from Hufflepuff, Carla's from Ravenclaw and Panther-Lily's from Gryffindor."

Professor McGonagall found the schedules and out them to Rogue. "Is that all?" She asked.

Erza piped up for the first time since entering the office. "Can we also have Jel - I mean, Professor Jellal's schedule as well?" She asked, her cheeks turning pink. Natsu started sniggering until Erza hit him over the head whilst the Professor looked for the schedule.

"Here you go, dear. It's nice to see a student having such respect for a professor." Now everyone bar Hermione and Erza was struggling with laughter, and Erza's face had turned as scarlet as her hair.

"Th-thank you, Professor McGonagall, we'll be going now." The students left the room and after a few seconds, the Mahoutokoro students collapsed in fits of giggles.

"Ummmm, what's so funny?" Hermione asked, as Lucy brushed tears of laughter from her eyes.

"It's just, Erza and _Professor_ _Jellal_ are dating!" The blonde said between giggles.

Hermione gasped. "Isn't that improper? A student and a teacher?" She said, and Lucy shook her head.

"They've known each other since they were little kids - like, as in five or six. Best friends until they started Mahoutokoro. Then they suddenly strted dating. Well, I say suddenly, it kind of just happened gradually, to the point where the two of them didn't even realise they were dating until Natsu pointed it out to them. _Natsu!_ And that was when Erza was eleven and Jellal was thirteen. Plus they're both really responsible, so Gramps trusts them." The blonde explained.

Erza's face had cooled from bright red to dusky pink, and she cleared her throat. "W-well, I think we should be going now. Natsu, Gray get off the floor." When they didn't follow her instructions, the feisty red-head picked them up by their hair, making them yelp. "Hermione, could you show us where these classes will be?" Erza asked, having mostly recovered from her embarrassment.

"Sure, follow me." Hermione pointed out the transfiguration classroom, which was right next to Professor McGonagall's office before leading the to the charms classroom, DADA classroom and all the others. Their final stop was the potions classroom. Hermione cast quick disillusionment and silencing spells on everyone before heading into the dungeons.

"Right, I've cast a few spells, but just to be sure keep quiet. Slytherins can be...er, _territorial_ , in a manner and Professor Snape is even meaner." She carefully led them down the steps, and pointed at the classroom. They took a peek through the open door, and Natsu almost fell in when he saw the Professor.

Snape was hunched over a cauldron, his greasy hair hanging in his face, stirring a potion. Hermione made a frantic gesture with her hands at the others, which they interpreted as ' _get away while you can_ ', and the group made their way back up the stairs as fast as they dared.

"Jesus, that was close!" Hermione said when they were a safe distance away.

"Hermione, why were we sneaking around like that? Earlier when you took us to see the common room entrance we didn't do that," Lucy asked

"Earlier, we went there during breakfast. Slytherin house is always on a schedule of sorts - they always arrive at the same time to breakfast every day, and they all travel together to meals - I don't think there's ever been a time when any of them turned up late or missed a meal. Plus, Professor Snape is their head of house, so he'll have been with them then," she explained.

"What do we do now, 'Mione?" Natsu asked energetically.

"I don't know," the brunette replied. "We've done basically everything. Library, Owlery, Room of Requirement, even the Quidditch stadium - Quidditch! That's perfect!" She said to herself. "Alright, how do you lot feel about learning to fly on a broom?" They all looked excited at this prospect - even Erza!

"Hell yeah!" Natsu screamed. "Let's go fly a broom!" He ran off.

"Ummmm, does he know where he's going?" Hermione asked.

"Don't worry - a dragon slayer's nose can find any object, place or person," Lucy said flippantly.

Hermione's face lit up at this, and she turned to Rogue. "Do you think you could find Ron and Harry? I'm not much good at flying, so they'll be better teachers. Plus they actually have brooms." Rogue nodded, and they followed him through the school until they reached the Fat Lady's portrait.

"Balderdash," Hermione said, and the portrait swung open. She led their little group inside, and spotted Harry and Ron immediately. "Boys! I need your help."

They looked at each other. _Hermione Granger_ needing _their_ help? That was new.

"Sure, 'Mione. What d'you need?" Ron asked.

"Could you get your brooms and meet us on the Quidditch pitch? And Ron, see if one of your brothers'll lend us an extra one." They looked confused but nodded, and headed up to the dorms.

"Alright, lets go and find Natsu," Hermione said, and the group headed outside to find the pinkette. When they reached the pitch, Natsu sitting in the stands looking bored.

"Thank god you're finally here! I've been waiting for _ages_!" He whined, and Erza hit him over the head. "Owwwwwww!" He groaned, as Gray snorted.

"If you weren't such a hotheaded idiot, you would know that Hermione had to go tell Harry and Ron to get their brooms and meet us out here," he said, and Natsu scowled.

"What did you call me, Ice Princess?"

"A _hotheaded idiot_ , ya flame brain!"

"Why you-"

"Knock it _OFF_!" Erza shouted, and hit them both over the head. Natsu rubbed his new wound, still scowling.

"Hey, 'Mione, aren't Harry and Ron the idiots that froze me and Gray this morning?" He asked.

"Yeah," Hermione answered. "Don't worry, they won't do it again. They know what will happen if they do." Her expression darkened, and Natsu shivered at the similarity to Erza. "Speak of the devil..." Hermione said as two figures ran towards them.

"Sorry we took so long, 'Mione, we couldn't find Fred or George. Don't worry, though, Katie let us borrow hers." They boys lay their brooms (plus Katie's) on the ground. "Right you lot, we only have three brooms, so split into two groups and we'll take it in turns." Hermione walked over to join Harry and Ron, and the others seperated into grouls of three.

Gray, Rogue and Erza made one group whilst Natsu, Lucy and Levy made another.

Harry, Ron and Hermione each stood beside a broom. "Right, first thing's first, stand next to a broom and shout 'up'. The trick to this is to be confident - if you're nervous, the broom will sense that," Harry said, and the trio simultaneously shouted "up!" The brooms shot into their outstretched hands, and Ron demonstrated the correct way to mount a broom.

"Then, once you've got the right position, kick off the ground. Once you're in the air, the thing you need to remember is to try and keep your balance - but don't worry, if you fall, 'Mione here is amazing with the levitation charm." Ron seemed to be having a lot of fun teaching them Quidditch. _Although, that makes a lot of sense,_ Hermione mused. _It is his favourite hobby_.

They handed their brooms to Natsu's group, who all succeeded in summoning their brooms, and got into the right positions with minimal correction. Then, the three of them kicked off. Lucy and Levy shrieked, but zoomed around, looking like they were having fun.

Natsu, on the other hand, was hovering in one place looking decidedly green.

He had forgotten about his motion sickness.

"Hermione...please get me down!" Hermione sighed, but used the levitation charm to bring both the boy and the broom back to the ground safely.

"Baka," Erza said, but without her usual edge. Even she felt sorry for the fire wizard sprawled on the ground.

Lucy and Levy both landed, and handed their brooms back to Harry and Ron. Lucy rushed over to Natsu, and comforted him until the sickness had passed, whilst the Golden Trio helped Gray's group get started.

Gray and Erza were already in the air, but Rogue was still on the ground taking deep breaths. Suddenly, Hermione remembered what Lucy had told her earlier on the moving staircase. " _Motion sickness...all dragon slayers have it really bad...Natsu's the worst, but_ _Gajeel, Sting and Rogue aren't much better than him_." She frowned, and went to stand beside the dragon slayer. Quietly so that Harry and Ron wouldn't hear, she said something into his ear. "You don't have to do it if you don't want to."

Rogue shook his head. "I'll be fine, 'Mione. I dont have it as bad as Natsu. Although," he smiled wryly, "if I start to turn green, could you bring me back down?"

Hermione grinned at him. "Of course, don't worry." Rogue gave her a smile and mounted his broom before ascending into the air. But what happened next was _completely_ unexpected.

Instead of getting sick like Natsu, Rogue was absolutely fine. The longer he was up there, the more confident he became, and soon he was zipping around, performing all sorts of tricks. Even Hermione, an avid hater of Quidditch and flying, could see the beauty in Rogue's smooth flips and loops.

When he landed, everyone started applauding him, with the exception of Natsu, who was pouting in the stands. "That was bloody brilliant, mate!" Ron cried whilst Harry nodded in agreement.

"Yes, it was actually pretty cool," Hermione said with a smile, causing the dragon-slayer to smile.

"It was fun," he said, sounding surprised. "I honestly thought I'd get sick, but I didn't feel a thing, why?" Hermione laughed.

"Actually, that would be me. Earlier, when we bumped into Wendy outside her common room, I asked about this 'troia' spell that Lucy had told me about. I got her to cast it on a small storage device, one we use for things like protection and healing charms, which I slipped into your pocket earlier," she said, and Rogue grinned.

"You," he said, "are absolutely amazing. But why didn't you give it to Natsu?"

"Oh, I did. It just didn't work. From what I can gather, either his stone was weaker, his sickness was stronger, or he was already immune to the spell's effects," Hermione replied. "Don't worry though one of the things about the stone is that you can't become immune if the spell or potion used is one you haven't been exposed to before. It was originally used for defensive magic, but because of its side effects became more of a healers tool."

"Interesting, and yeah, Natsu's immune to troia," Lucy said.

"It's more than interesting! This could completely change everything!" Rogue said enthusiastically, before turning to Lucy. "How many times have your team been restricted on a mission because of Natsu's motion sickness?"

"Ugh, more times than I can count!" The blonde replied.

"Seriously, Hermione, thank you so much!" Rogue said, turning back to the witch, who was blushing now.

"It was nothing, I'm just happy it can help you guys. I'll look into potions later to help Natsu's issue with troia," she replied.

"Later - right now we should head back to the library. Levy wanted to meet us there so she could talk to you about some book she found about the history of Hogwarts," Lucy said, and Hermione's face lit up.

"Really?! Let's go right now, the !

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 **A/N - Ah, Hermione meets Rogue! Remember, reviews good, flames bad - we're not all immune to fire like Natsu •^_^•**


	4. Chapter 3: Troia Stone

**Thank you all for following/favouriting! •^_^•**

 **Disclaimer: I still own neither Fairy Tail nor Harry Potter *sigh* I can only hope that dreams _do_ come true...**

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"Well hello," a new voice said from the doorway of the library. "Sting Weisslogia Eucliffe, I don't believe we were introduced properly yesterday," he said, looking at Hermione, who smiled in return. "And I've only just managed to actually _find_ you all, after Rogue abandoned me!"

Rogue rolled his eyes at his brother. "Don't blame me - you had a meeting with the other guildmasters, you had to go there not with us."

"Yeah but it's not like we ever do anything important. Anyway, what are you guys doing in here?" He asked.

"I was just talking to Levy about the origins of Hogwarts, and the four founders," Hermione said.

"And we were listening to their conversation," Rogue added with a grin, shifting over so his brother could sit down.

"Cool, don't let me interrupt," Sting said, and Hermione turned back to Levy.

After a while, Hermione finished explaining the founders and houses, and everyone started up their own conversations, and Sting turned to Hermione. "So, my little brother tells me you want to become a member of Sabertooth, is that right?"

Hermione nodded. "If you'll have me."

Sting grinned. "Of course, you're obviously to cool for any of the other guilds - especially Fairy Tail!" He said with a smirk, making Lucy and Natsu roll their eyes, the latter sticking out his tongue. "Now, where do you want your guild mark, and what colour?" He asked, pulling a stamp out of thin air.

"Left shoulder, please, and let the stamp choose the colour. I've always wondered what colour my personality was!" She said dryly, and Sting grinned.

"Alright, let's do this!" Hermione shrugged her shirt off of her shoulder, and Sting stamped it.

When the initial flash of light had faded, Hermione looked at the colour and gasped, it was so pretty! Most of the mark was a navy blue so dark it almost seemed black, but there was a rim of gold just around the edge.

"I love it!" She said enthusiastically, making the brothers grin.

"I'm glad." Rogue said softly, and Sting smirked. Noticing his brother's expression, Rogue rolled his eyes at the white dragon-slayer, and turned back to Hermione. "You good, 'Mione? Can you stand? Do you feel dizzy? Nauseous? The stamp affects people sometimes, for some weird reason," he said, and Hermione laughed.

"I'm fine, Rogue. Don't worry." She stood up and grabbed her books as the others prepared to leave. "See? Fine." The two walked out of the library, followed by the others, and Hermione didn't notice Rogue's blush, but Sting did, and smirked even wider than before.

"Well, this could get interesting," he said to himself.

* * *

A few days later, in the Great Hall, the champions were announced.

"...Viktor Krum!" People applauded, and Durmstrang cheered

"...Erza Scarlet!" Mahoutokoro were deafening, and Hermione flashed a thumbs up at the red-head who smiled in return.

"...Cedric Diggory!" Hogwarts cheered now, Hufflepuff the loudest. Everyone thought the cup had stopped, but no, it kept going.

"...Harry Potter." Dumbledore announced, the hall was quiet.

"...Petya Krum."

"...Rogue Cheney." Hermione gasped, hands flying to her mouth.

To most, Rogue looked calm and collected, but Hermione could see the slight widening of his eyes.

He was scared.

Rogue looked at Hermione and mouthed _'I'm okay. I'll be okay.'_

She didn't believe him.

Noticing that her friend was still glued to his seat, Hermione nudged Harry. "Get up there! It'll be fine, don't you worry." Harry started walking towards the podium _. 'Take care of him, please,'_ she mouthed, and Rogue nodded, before heading over to the podium too.

Later that evening, the school was still in shock. It turned out that someone had tried to manipulate the cup, entering an underage student - Harry - under a false school to ensure he would be picked, but thanks to the new enchantments placed on the cup to recognise whether an individual belonged to the school they wrote on their paper - a precaution put in place to stop underage Hogwarts and Durmstrang students entering, the cup had realised. Unfortunately, the Confundus charms used by whoever was trying to trick the cup stopped it from rejecting Harry's name, and to rectify this, the cup had chosen two more students from the other schools to ensure there were fair numbers.

Students from Durmstrang and Mahoutokoro were unsure who the 'false' and 'real' champions were, but they didn't really care. I mean, two students meant twice the chance of winning, right? In Hogwarts, however...well, Harry wasn't having such an easy time.

"Are you really that pathetically desperate for attention that you'd purposely screw up the tournament, Potter? Is it not enough that you're famous, that you get special treatment from Dumbledore?" Draco Malfoy sneered.

"Just ignore him, Harry. He isn't worth it." Hermione said, and tried to lead the boy away. Draco had other ideas. He whipped out his wand and prepared to fire a nasty hex at Harry's retreating back, but fortunately for the Boy Who Lived, Professor Moody, the new DADA teacher chose that moment to walk down the corridor. " _Expelliarmus_!" He yelled, before transfiguring Draco into a ferret and _bouncing him up and down!_

Harry, Hermione and practically everyone else in the hallway watched with wide eyes until Professor McGonagall came down the corridor. "Alastor! Please tell me that isn't a _student_!" She cried.

"Maybe. He was about to fire a hex at this lad's back, like a coward. You know I hate cowards," he replied, refusing to meet the transfiguration professor's eyes.

"We do not transfigure students as punishment! Detentions! Or the deduction of house points. _That's_ punishment." She picked the ferret up and left, presumably to go to her office and return him his original state.

"Well," Hermione said. "That was interesting." She and Harry left to return to the common room. On the way there, Hermione saw the little blue-haired dragon slayer, Wendy.

The younger girl smiled widely, ran over to Hermione and gave her a hug. "Hermione!" She cried happily. "I'm so glad I found you! Rogue told me all about what you did with troia and everything, and wanted to do something in return. I made this," Wendy said, handing Hermione a hand-bound leather journal. "It's a compilation of all the spells Grandeena ever gave me - she was my adoptive mother. I don't know if you can use them, but I thought you might find them interesting at least!"

"Watch out for Gajeel and Laxus, I'm sure they'll be by soon to thank you as well... In their own ways."

With that, the little girl ran off. Harry was slightly confused, but shrugged his shoulders and didn't say anything as they continued to the common room.

They made it all the way there without any incidents, but once they stepped through the portrait hole they found everyone glaring at them. Ron sauntered over with a nasty look on his face.

"Well look! The fabled Harry Potter finally decided to grace us with his presence!" Ron bowed exaggeratedly low. "How may we assist you m'lord." Harry turned red, partly put of anger but mostly out of embarrassment; most of the Gryffindors present were sniggering at them.

"Don't bother, Harry. Remember what I said? It's not worth it." Hermione said, trying to tug her friend back out of the doorway.

"Shut up, you filthy little mudblood!" Ron snarled.

Harry clenched his hands and turned back to the red-head. "What did you just call her, asshole?" He hissed.

Ron smirked. "Mudblood. That _is_ what she is. A filthy little _mudblood_." Harry smashed his fist into Ron's face, and pulled it back for another blow, but at that moment a tall blonde walked in.

"What's going on here?" Laxus growled

"Harry _punched_ be, sir!" Ron said, through his broken nose. Harry scowled.

"It was hardly unprovoked." He turned to Laxus. " _Ronald_ here called Hermione a mudblood!" Laxus' expression darkened.

"Is this true?" He asked the red-head, who looked away.

"Maybe," he muttered. Laxus frowned.

"Take yourself to Madam Pomfrey. I will discuss your punishment with your head of house later." He said, and practically shoved Ron out of the portrait. He turned back to Hermione and Harry.

"Now, if you two could join me in my office for a second." Laxus said, and led the two into a small room just off of the common room. "As I understand, Ron began insulting you two, and Harry punched him in the face. Whilst I should not condone this behaviour, this is a special case." Here he turned to Hermione, who had realised what he was talking about.

"Let me guess," she said. "Because of the Troia Stone, you owe me?" She asked, and Laxus nodded his head. "I thought so." She said.

"In return for that, I will let this incident, and I would like to take this chance to formally thank you. Ronald will be dealt with accordingly - I can assure you of that." Laxus sai. "But don't think this will become a regular thing - I am still head of Fairy Tail, and as such must remain impartial."

"Thank you," she said, "I don't suppose you could keep an eye on Harry for me? The others are being right gits at the minute - especially Ron." Laxus nodded.

"Okay, I think we're done here. Harry, I shall escort you to Professor McGonagall so you can give your turn of events, and Hermione, Gajeel wants to see you in the library." He said, and they all left the room.

When Hermione reached the library, she found the black haired male sitting at one of the tables, reading a book on dragons.

"Laxus said you wanted to see me?" She said as she walked over. At the sound of her voice, Gajeel, who had been completely engrossed in his book, actually jumped out of his seat.

"Damnit, witch! Don't do that! Almost gave me a damn heart attack." He grumbled. "I ain't any good with this 'indebted' crap, but I talked to the others, and read some books Levy found, so here." He cleared his throat and grabbed her wrist and snapped a decorated cuff around it. "This is charmed, I got your little Professor to do it, it'll tell us if you're really hurt or something. Now, I don't mean to be rude, but scram." He said, and returned to his book.

Hermione smiled and left the dragon slayer to go and wonder through the shelves. She found an empty window seat and sat down, examining her bracelet in the sun. Thinking about the slayers that owed her a debt led her to think of _why_ they owed her those debts, and that led her to think about the fact that the only one still suffering from the motion sickness was Natsu!

Hermione rushed over to the potions section, and grabbed several books. She spent hours poring over the information, and found out a bit about balance and stabilising potions. After much research, she realised she only had one option - to ask Snape. The idea made her stomach churn with apprehension - but it really was unfair on Natsu to let him suffer when she could easily fix it.

Whilst Snape _was_ a greasy git who hated all non-Slytherin students, he was also a potions master - the youngest, in fact, to ever receive that title. Hermione couldn't argue with the facts - he was _good_ , possibly even the best!

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 **A/N - Yesss, champion time and Snapey is getting involved in the story now. Ron's showing his true colours - sorry to all you Ron lovers, he just gets worse from here on out. I was debating whether to put Hermione in Lamia Scale - but then I remembered that she's a Gryffindor, not a Ravenclaw. Besides, now she's in the same guild as Roooogue! Reviews are always welcome, and I hope you're all enjoying the fic so far •^_^•**


	5. Chapter 4: Domestic Potions

**To all who followed/favourited/reviewed - a huge thanks! •^_^•**

 **Disclaimer: Neither Hermione Granger nor Rogue Cheney are characters of my own creation - I am just playing in the sandbox of greater beings!**

* * *

The next day, after potions, Hermione purposely packed her things away slowly, and when only she and the professor were left in the class she walked over to him.

"Professor, I was wondering if there is a potion to help with motion sickness," she asked, biting the inside of her cheek nervously. Snape narrowed his eyes at her, but answered anyway.

"Yes, Miss Granger." He said with his customary sneer. "It's called the Travellus potion, due to it's tendency to be used by wizards before travelling in muggle vehicles. Is that all?"

"N-no, sir. Um, actually, do you perhaps know of a book in which I could find the recipe?" She asked tentatively.

"I believe you could find it on page 377 in Barry Berton's _Domestic Potions._ " He said in his normal, emotionless voice, but his eyes showed a hint of surprise - Hermione Granger was actually asking him about something - not acting like a know-it-all, for once.

"Thank you, sir." She said quickly, and left, leaving Snape staring after her.

The potions master sat down in his chair, and pinched the bridge of his nose. With nothing to do, his thoughts soon turned to the source of his incoming headache: Hermione Granger.

The girl was an enigma.

Contrary to popular belief, he didn't hate her. Her thirst for knowledge actually reminded him of himself when he was younger.

No, what really got to him was partially her choice in friends, but more than that, the way she acted, like she knew everything. Even though it was _he_ who was the potions master, she would walk into his classroom and act like she knew more than him - it irked him to no end.

He sighed and walked off to his quarters for a well-deserved drink. _Maybe she's not that bad after all_ , he thought, before drowning his thoughts out with fire-whiskey.

Hermione wondered through the corridors of Hogwarts aimlessly. She had indeed found the book Professor Snape had told her about, but when she took it to Madam Pince, the stern librarian refused to lend it to her.

Apparently, the book had gone out of print soon after being released, due to a dangerous mistake in the Vatque Mallev potion, and this copy was only one of 50 that hadn't been recalled. Hermione sighed in defeat. She'd been kicked out after that, as the library was closing, and hadn't even had enough time to copy down the recipe, so she had to wait until tomorrow at least.

Looking defeated, she started the long trek back to the Gryffindor dorms, and flopped face-first onto her bed once she got there, yelping as she landed on something hard.

She sat up, and looked at the book she had just fallen on, blinking in surprise at the title, because there in obnoxiously shiny letters were the words _Domestic Potions._ She opened the book, and a small piece of parchment fell out. Hermione picked it up and read it.

 _Make use of the book. I expect it back next lesson._

 _S.S._

Hermione recognised that handwriting, and the initials just confirmed it, but she was confused - why would Professor Snape send her this book? He _hated_ her, almost as much as he hated Harry.

Rubbing the bridge of her nose, unconsciously mimicking her potions professor, Hermione flipped through the book to page 377, and began copying down the recipe.

It was relatively simple, compared to potions like polyjuice, but it needed lots of rare ingredients that Hermione would struggle to get.

 _Maybe Professor Snape_... she mused silently, but dismissed the thought. Even if he _had_ lent her this book, he still hated her...didn't he?

Hermione cast a quick tempus charm, and seeing that it was about three in the morning, dragged herself into bed and fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

 _Hermione looked at the empty landscape around her. "Hermione..." A voice whispered, and Hermione turned, searching for the source. "Hermione..._ wake up, Hermione!"

The Gryffindor bolted upright, almost head butting Lucy in the nose. The blonde chuckled. "I thought you might appreciate someone telling you that it's almost time for breakfast. Those other girls, Parvati and Lavender told me to leave you, but..." Lucy trailed off, wrinkling her nose when talking about their roommates.

"Thank you," Hermione said, rushing round the room for some fresh robes. "Godamn it...Lucy, have you seen any of my robes around here? I fell asleep in these and I can't find any others."

Lucy grinned and pulled out her keys. "I haven't seen your robes, but I _can_ help you out. Open! Gate of the Virgin, Virgo! Gate of the Crab, Cancer!" She yelled, and there was a flash of golden light. When it cleared, Lucy was flanked by a pink haired woman in a maid outfit and a man with crab legs on his back.

"Good morning, Princess. What do you wish for me to do?" The maid asked.

"Can you go fetch Hermione some clothes? They need to pass for Hogwarts robes, so nothing too ostentatious, please." Lucy said, and the maid nodded before disappearing .

The crab man grinned at them. "What can I do for you today, baby?" He said, snipping his scissors. His eyes drifted from Lucy to Hermione, and he gasped. "Your hair...so much potential, baby! Can I?" He said, gesturing towards her hair.

"Knock yourself out. I should warn you, though, no one has been able to tame it yet." Hermione said shrugging.

Lucy grinned at her again. "Don't worry, Cancer is the _best_ stylist - in our world and his!" Hermione raised an eyebrow, but let Cancer steer her towards the chair. Within thirty seconds, Hermione's unruly, untameable curls became soft gentle waves that fell down past her waist, and framed her face perfectly. Cancer smirked as he admired his handiwork.

"Gorgeous, baby," he said smugly, and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Soon after, the maid returned, this time with an armful of robes. "These robes seemed adequate, Princess. I took the liberty of memorising Miss Hermione's measurements before I left, so these should fit perfectly," she said, handing the robes over to Lucy.

"Thanks, Virgo," she said, running a finger over the fabric distractedly. Virgo bowed, and disappeared in a similar fashion to Cancer. Lucy gave the robes to Hermione, and turned her back so the other girl could have some privacy.

When she turned back around, the blonde let out a squeal of delight - the robes were perfect! The celestial silk was not only soft to the touch, but shimmered slightly, thanks to the stardust woven into the fibres of the fabric, and Hermione's small, soft curves were framed perfectly by the robes.

Lucy pushed Hermione towards the full-length mirror in the corner of the room, and the brunette took a deep breath before opening her eyes. Blinking her eyes, Hermione brought a hand to her face, and the stranger in the mirror did the same. "Wow," she whispered. "I look... _pretty_..." She sounded as though she didnt quite believe herself.

"Hermione Granger," Lucy said with faked sternness. "You don't look pretty. You look drop-dead gorgeous! Rogue is going to freak when he sees you in that!"

Hermione blushed. "It's not that obvious, is it?" She said, wondering if anyone else knew about her little crush.

Lucy smirked, and for a moment Hermione couldn't believe that the blonde wasn't in Slytherin. "No, don't worry. As far as I know, Natsu, Gray, Sting and Gajeel are too dense to pick up on it, Levy is obsessed with Gajeel and Erza with Jellal. And Rogue wouldn't be able to believe anyone would like him, so you have no worries there either," she said, and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief.

Unbeknownst to the two, Sting _was_ aware of Hermione's crush - and knew that his brother also felt the same way! Sat at the breakfast table, he glanced at the doors quickly, and once Rogue came in, dragged him over to the Gryffindor table.

"You know I'm a Ravenclaw, right?" He said, and Sting grinned.

"Awwwww, can I not have my little brother sit with me for once? I missed you!" He said enthusiastically, making Rogue roll his eyes. Suddenly a hush descended over the hall, and the two brothers turned towards the door. What they saw made Sting's grin widen and Rogue's jaw drop open.

Lucy and Hermione were walking towards the Gryffindor table, but instead of the frizzy mess it usually was, Hermione's hair fell in soft waves down her back, and her robes weren't the normal oversized boys' ones she usually wore. Instead, they were perfectly sized - not too tight, but enough to show off her curves. The robes glistened and shimmered with each step Hermione took, and before Rogue realised it, the brunette was sliding in beside him at the table.

"Hi Rogue!" She said happily, before grabbing some toast and buttering it, oblivious to the stares and whispers following her. Rogue closed his mouth, and tried not to stare, and his grip tightened on the fork he was holding so much that he managed to warp the shape of the metal. _So much for subtlety_ , he thought despairingly as Hermione shot him a questioning look.

After they had finished eating breakfast, Dumbledore stood up, grabbing everyone's attention.

"Good morning, students!" He said cheerfully. "As we have already restarted the tri-wizard tournament, the teachers of Hogwarts, Durmstrang and Mahoutokoro have decided to bring back another time-honoured tradition - the Yule Ball! No, it is not compulsory, but it would be a shame if anyone missed it. As it will be held on Christmas Day, any students who are going home for the holidays will be provide with a portkey here, and can either return later in the evening or stay over night."

As Dumbledore sat down, there was an atmosphere of excitement as students began talking about the ball, what they were going to wear, who they were going to ask.

Hermione sighed. _No doubt that Lucy, Levy and Erza will make me go_ , she thought. _I guess it won't be that bad...will it?_

* * *

As Hermione walked into potions, she noticed that most Gryffindors and even some Slytherins turned to watch her as she walked in. Suddenly conscious of every movement she made, Hermione sat down at the desk in the back corner of the room and unpacked her potions kit.

Professor Snape swept into the room in his usual dramatic manner a few minutes later, and wrote the recipe on the board before sitting down at his desk, making the Gryffindors uncomfortable with his glaring.

Hermione concentrated on her potion in an effort to block out the whispers of her classmates, and didn't notice Ron moving towards her potion until it was too late. She lunged to try and catch the lacewing flies that he threw in her cauldron, but only succeeded in getting herself in the splash zone of the unstable elixir.

The blue potion bubbled violently, turning a sickly shade of green, and the noises it was emitting drew the attention of everyone in the room, including Professor Snape, who jumped up, whipping out his wand.

At that moment, the cauldron erupted in a tide of steaming sludge that melted Hermione's desk and started eating away at the stone walls like acid. When the air cleared, Hermione was miraculously unharmed, probably due to the protective wall that had stopped the potion from hitting her. Snape looked absolutely livid as he ordered everyone but Hermione out of the classroom and vanished the disastrous potion with a quick flick of his wand. He shepherded Hermione into his office and closed the door, warding it against intruders before collapsing in the chair behind his desk.

"Sit, Miss Granger," he said quietly, and Hermione sat so fast she almost fell over. This made the potions master smile - a real, genuine smile that made Hermione gasp in astonishment.

Professor Snape started laughing at that, small chuckles that soon transformed into deep booking belly laughs. When he had calmed now, Snape wiped away the tears of mirth gathered in the corners of his eyes, but kept a grin on his face. "I think you have realised by now that I obviously know it wasn't you who caused the explosion," he said, making her nod vigorously. "I saw Ronald walk towards your potion, but I thought he was simply going to talk to you, not sabotage your work. I apologise for not stopping him. Now, I would like to clear up some misunderstandings. Despite what you may belive, Miss. Granger, I do not hate you, or even _dislike_ you. On the contrary, I admire your desire to learn, and you certainly have a gift for academics. However, what I do not like the way you act in my lessons, as though you know more than me - as though you are the potions master, and not me," he paused, and Hermione's face flushed red with embarassment.

"However, you have definitely grown over these past few years, finally recognising my authority, and I find myself able to tolerate your presence - and I have decided to make you an offer. In return for your treating me as your professor, rather than with this manner of _disdain_ , I will tutor you in potions, and if you wish to, you can become my apprentice when you come of age." He said, hoping she bought his weak excuse. In actual fact, he really wanted to tutor her, because...well, he didn't know, but he didn't want her to know _that_ either.

Hermione grinned. "Really?! That would be amazing, sir!" She said happily.

"Severus. You may call me Severus in private, Miss Granger," he said.

"Well, Severus, in that case please call me Hermione," she smiled.

Severus nodded. "Hermione, then. If anyone asks I gave you a detention tonight. I assume you have brought my book with you?" He said, and Hermione nodded, pulling _Domestic Potions_ out of her bag - which had miraculously survived the potions accident!

"Good. We will be brewing the Travellus potion tonight. I will see you at 5 pm sharp, don't be late." With that, Severus led Hermione out of his office, and, for the benefit of any eavesdroppers, began lecturing her.

"In short, Miss Granger, what you did was not only amateurish and irresponsible, but dangerous. You could have injured or even killed one of your classmates with that mess. Now _get out_!" He hissed, winking briefly at her as she left. She raised her eyebrows at him before schooling her expression into a mask of embarrassment and misery, her eyes filling with fake tears.

As soon as she left the class, Harry ran over to her. "Hermione! Are you ok?" He said, and she nodded miserably, sniffling a bit for effect.

"I-I'm fine, Harry. At least the potion didn't hit me! I'd have been a goner then..." She said the last bit for the benefit of a certain red-head she knew was lurking in one of the nearby alcoves.

Harry's eyes widened. "Oh my God..." He whispered, and Ron walked over.

"I'm so sorry, 'Mione. I shouldn't have done that, it was stupid of me," he said guiltily.

Hermione's eyes turned cold, her expression stony. "No, I'm sorry, _Ronald_. I'm sorry that that _pitiful_ excuse of an apology will not suffice. You almost killed me, idiot! And I won't even _start_ on your behaviour these last few days, towards both Harry and myself. So, in other words, _not forgiven_!" She hissed, and whirled around, planning on walking away, but instead coming face to face with Rogue.

He smirked at her in a Slytherin manner. "Hey 'Mione, I came to tell you, Sting's called a guild meeting. It's in that room you showed us on the tour," he said.

Hermione nodded at Harry and ignored Ron. "See you later, Harry, gotta go now." She transfigured her robes into something more suited to what Sabertooth wore, and the boys' jaws dropped when they saw her mark.

"Wh-when did you get a tattoo, 'Mione?" Ron asked, but Hermione just ignored him.

"Do you mind shadow-travelling, 'Mione? It'll be quicker that way." Rogue asked, and Hermione nodded and grabbed his hand.

"Let's go!" She said, grinning at him. He returned her smile, and pulled her into an embrace before shadow-travelling to the hallway outside of the Room of Requirement.

Rogue gave Hermione a moment to recover before they went in; shadow-travel was quite disorientating the first time. Once she felt less dizzy, Hermione nodded to Rogue, and they walked into the Room of Requirement.

* * *

 **A/N - Woohoo, Cancer makes an appearance and Snape laughs. Actually. Fucking. Laughs. Ron still being a bit of a dick (like I said in the last chapter - apologies to Ron lovers. He still isn't going to get any better), I mean, he probably should have apologised for calling Hermione a mudblood before anything else. Hermione liiiikes Rogue! ^•_•^ (that was supposed to be Happy, but it really doesn't look like him)**

 **Reviews are welcome as always •^_^•**


	6. Chapter 5: Guild Meeting

**Another short chapter, just a filler really, but in the next chapter the tournament _really_ starts!**

 **Disclaimer: It really does pain me to admit it, but I still don't own Fairy Tail or Harry Potter. Not even one. Little. Character.**

* * *

When they walked in, all of the Sabertooth members looked up at once, and Hermione squirmed slightly under their gazes.

Rogue led her to one end of the large oak table that everyone was sat at, and they sat down next to each another. Sting stood from his position at the head of the table.

"Right, first thing's first - introductions." He pointed at Hermione. "This lovely young lady is Hermione Granger, bookworm extraordinaire and temporary member of our guild." Hermione looked around and gave a shy smile, which was returned by all the Sabertooth members.

Sting pointed at each member in turn. "Orga Nanagear, lightning god-slayer and amateur rapper. Rufus Lore, memory-make mage and wannabe poet. Minerva Orland, spatial-manipulation mage and spawn of Satan. And last but certainly not least, Yukino Auguria, celestial mage and most adorable girl in Mahoutokoro." The silver-haired mage blushed at Sting's words, and Hermione raised an eyebrow at Rogue in a silent question. _She's very shy_ , he mouthed at her, and she nodded slightly in acknowledgement.

Sting sat back down and steepled his fingers. "Now, the important matter must be addressed. All of you know that Rogue here was selected as one of Mahoutokoro's champions for the tri-wizard tournament. The tournament is deadly - even fatal to some. I have spent the last few days reading through the rule books and attending meetings, so I can give you a vague run-down on how this is going to work. As there are two champions for each school, they will be doubling up; so, for example, Rogue and Erza are the Mahoutokoro team. They will participate in 3 events that will occur between now and the end of June. The teams are awarded points for the order in which they complete the tasks, and how fast they can do it. These points will be tallied up for the final event, which is always some sort of race, and the team with the most points will have a head start. Whichever team comes first will win. However, this is where it becomes more complicated. Throughout the tournament, participants will be awarded individual points for things such as skill, team-work, creativity and so forth. So whilst there will be a winning school, the true tri-wizard champion will be the one with the most individual points at the end of the tournament." He leant back in his chair. "Any questions?"

Minerva stood up. "As far as I can understand, teachers aren't allowed to help the pupils from their schools. Is that correct?"

Sting nodded. "So whilst I can explain the rules to Rogue, I am bound by a magic oath to not assist him in any way that could affect the outcome of the tournament." Minerva sat down again, nodding, and Hermione frowned.

"If a teacher from another school helped Rogue, would that be allowed?" She asked, and Sting looked thoughtful for a few minutes.

"Yes," he said finally. "That would be allowed, but I don't think any of the teachers would help the 'enemy'."

Hermione grinned. "Well. You are in luck today, because a certain potions master has just offered to become my tutor. I'm pretty sure he isn't as mean as he seems, but he really does hate Harry, so if he thinks helping you will make Harry lose, he'll do it." This piece of news made the other members of Sabertooth grin, and Sting high-fived his brother.

"That will give us an advantage over the other schools, as Professor Snape can't help Hogwarts, and Headmaster Karkaroff wouldn't permit his students asking for help from outside sources. However, we still have to talk tactics." Rufus spoke up for the first time, and Minerva nodded in agreement. The rest of the meeting was taken up by planning and strategising.

After they left, Rogue pulled Hermione aside. "Are you okay with this, 'Mione?" He asked. "Helping me win, I mean. Harry's your best friend and-"

Hermione cut him off with her hand. "If I didn't want to help you, I wouldn't. I want Harry to stay alive - not win. I mean, it'd be great if he did, but I mean with everything that's happened so far at Hogwarts...his survival is my top priority, not boosting his ego. Besides, I'm not sure he _could_ win, I mean, there are a lot of stories surrounding the 'Boy-Who-Lived', but in actual fact, his magic levels and skill are only average. Plus, he already has Cedric to help him, and they have the home-turf advantage," she said, and Rogue smiled.

"Okay, 'Mione. See you at dinner?" He asked as he walked away, and Hermione nodded.

After Rogue had left, Hermione started walking down the corridor, but stopped when she saw a shock of silver hair sat in an alcove. She slid in next to Yukino, who looked up in surprise.

"Hey," Hermione said. "Sting introduced me in the meeting, but I don't think we've properly met yet. My name's Hermione Granger, nice to meet you." She stuck out her hand and Yukino shook it.

"Yukino Auguria. I don't suppose you could show me around?" She said softly, and Hermione grinned and leapt to her feet, pulling Yukino with her.

"Of course! You've already seen the Room or Requirement, which was Rowena Ravenclaw's little pet-project. She was one of the four Hogwarts founders..." Hermione gave Yukino a _very_ thorough tour, and a brief history of Hogwarts as well.

By the time she and Yukino made it to dinner, a new friendship had been formed, and the two girls were smiling and laughing together as if they had know each other for years.

Hermione dragged Yukino over to the Gryffindor table where they sat down next to Sting and Rogue. Soon afterwards, Lucy, Erza, Natsu, Happy and Gray joined them, and it became more of a multi-house table. Lucy smiled brightly at Yukino.

"You're the new celestial mage from Mahoutokoro, aren't you? I heard about you but didn't have a chance to introduce myself before we left. I'm Lucy Heartfilia, is it true you have three zodiac keys?" Lucy asked, and Yukino smiled shyly.

"My name's Yukino Auguria. And yes, I have contracts with Pisces, Libra and Ophiucus. But if what I've heard is true, and you have ten zodiac spirits, you are definitely more impressive than I am," the silver-haired mage replied.

Lucy grinned. "What can I say, I'm just lucky! My spirits are the best friends a girl could ask for!" She said happily, and Hermione nodded.

"Hell yes! Cancer is a hair-styling _god_ , and Virgo's taste in clothing is amazing!" She said enthusiastically. "Hell, they even made me look good!"

Lucy rolled her eyes at this. "Hermione, you always look good. Kinda cute in a bookworm-ish way. Cancer just made you look hot as hell," she said with a wink, and the girls all started laughing, even Erza smiling over her strawberry cake.

It took Hermione far longer than normal to finish her dinner due to the interruptions from not just her new girl-friends, but Natsu and Gray as well, or as Lucy called them, the Idiot Duo. When glanced at the large clock on the wall, she gasped and ran to the dungeons, throwing a quick goodbye over her shoulder.

"Snape," Harry clarified to the rest of the table, his lip curling in disgust. The Sabertooth members grinned in amusement, but didn't say anything about Hermione's little secret.

"Sorry I'm late, sir. I lost track of time," Hermione said breathlessly. The snarky potions master simply quirked an eyebrow at her and motioned for her to begin preparing the ingredients he had gathered.

"I will ignore your lateness for today, but please refrain from doing it again, Miss Granger," he said softly.

"Hermione, remember? Call me Hermione," she said firmly, and Snape grinned.

"Only if you stop calling me sir. Don't tell anyone this, but I actually hate it; it makes me feel so old! Severus will do," he said grumpily, and Hermione couldn't help but snort.

This lightened the atmosphere, and the next few hours were spent making Natsu's potion and talking about Severus' 'dunderhead' students.

Hermione presented the finished potion, absorbed into a specially modified Storing Stone to Natsu the next day, and started choking when he hugged her, grabbing the Stone before jumping around with glee.

"I'M GONNA GO ON A TRAIN! I'M GONNA GO ON A BOAT! I'M GONNA GO OM A PLANE! I'M GONNA DO EVERYTHING! I'M INVINCIBLE!" He yelled at the top of his voice, shooting flames everywhere whilst Hermione giggled.

* * *

 **A/N - Yukino meets Hermione and Natsu becomes immune to motion sickness...** **Anyway, Hermione, as a member of Sabertooth, has a duty to the guild to help Rogue out. Plus, she liiiiikes him. Sorry, Harry, you can have Cedric. Wonderful readers you are, please review, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy when I read them •^_^•**


	7. Chapter 6: First Task

**Thank youuuu lovely favouriters/followers! You guys mean the world to me! •^_^•**

 **Disclaimer: No matter how many times I wish, it never happens...I still don't own the rights to Harry Potter or Fairy Tail**

* * *

A few weeks later, Sting called another guild meeting, and they went over their plan for the first event.

Hermione stood up at the start of the meeting.

"Harry was told by Hagrid that the first task will involve dragons," she said simply, before sitting down and smirking at Sting and Rogue's gobsmacked expressions.

"Holy fucking shit..." Sting swore under his breath. "Real fucking dragons?! Hell, I haven't seen one of them since Weisslogia and Skiadrum disappeared."

Rogue nodded, and Sting turned to Hermione. "Weisslogia and Skiadrum are the dragons that raised us, like Igneel did with Natsu. That's why we're adoptive brothers - because our dragon-fathers were brothers, and in dragon clans, that kind of relation meant we were brothers, or something - I never paid attention in the dragon-culture lessons."

Rogue smirked at his brother. "Not just dragon-culture. He always thought that 'lesson' was synonymous with 'nap-time'," he explained to Hermione with a chuckle. The brunette just rolled her eyes.

Sting grinned. "Hey, I needed my beauty sleep..." He said, grinning.

"Still do," muttered Minerva under her breath, and Hermione had to choke back a laugh. Oblivious, Sting turned back to the topic of the first task.

"This should be a piece of cake for Rogue and Erza. I'm guessing that these will be regular, fire-breathing dragons, so Erza can use either her flame-resistant armour or her protective armour, and Rogue can withstand most flames if he makes a shadow-cocoon," Sting said, and Rogue nodded in agreement.

Over the next hour, they came up with a foolproof plan to help Rogue and Erza retrieve the eggs, and Hermione made a mental note to ask Professor Snape if they could brew some felix felicis - just in case.

* * *

As the morning of the first task dawned, Rogue shadow travelled into the Gryffindor common room where Erza, Hermione, Sting and the others were waiting for him. They met up with the rest of Sabertooth in the entrance hall before going to breakfast. Both Durmstrang and Hogwarts students were already in the Great Hall, so when the Mahoutokoro group and Hermione walked in, all heads turned to look at them.

Lucy had summoned Cancer and Virgo to give all the girls make-overs, and most of the boys jaws dropped as they stalked towards the front of the room. Minerva waved her hand and summoned a table with her magic, taking a seat to the right of Sting, who sat at the head of the table.

Rogue, Erza, Hermione, Natsu, Lucy, Gray and Yukino sat down and smirked at everyone who was staring. Hermione removed her outer robe, which revealed her guild mark, making the Mahoutokoro students who didn't already know gasp in surprise.

Breakfast itself was a solemn affair - after all, people had died before in the tri-wizard tournament. When they had all finished, Hermione's group rose as one, and made their way to the arena that had been specially built for the tournament.

Sting clasped Rogue's hand in some kind of handshake before making his way to the stands, followed by everyone except Erza, who left to talk to Jellal, and Hermione.

She stood there awkwardly at first, but suddenly grabbed Rogue and hugged him fiercely. "If you die out there, I'll kill you," she hissed, and he smiled gently at her.

"I'll be careful, don't worry," he said, and stopped abruptly as if he was about to say something but decided not to.

Hermione raised her eyebrow in a silent question, and Rogue audibly gulped. "If I-If I survive, willyougototheyuleballwithme?" He asked, so fast that Hermione could barely make out the words. She grinned at him.

"Don't be an idiot, Rogue. Of course you'll survive," she said, and began to walk away.

"Oh, and by the way, yes, I'll go with you," she winked, and Rogue walked into the champions tent with a stupidly huge grin on his face.

"Gather round, gather round," said Barty Crouch. "Okay, this task will require you to steal a golden egg from the nest of a dragon - yes, a real dragon! You will be judged on the skills you display, how fast you can complete the task and your teamwork. We have three dragons - a Chinese Fireball, a Common Welsh Green and a Hungarian Horntail. Each team will select a dragon from this bag, and that will also decide the order in which they compete."

Barty held out a velvet bag, and Viktor, Cedric and Erza drew their dragons. Viktor and Petya would face the Chinese Fireball, Harry and Cedric would face the Common Welsh Green, and Erza and Rogue would face the Hungarian Horntail, with the Durmstrang champions going first and Mahoutokoro last.

Waiting inside the tent, Rogue sat stoically in his chair, eyes closed, waiting to be sent in. Erza was in the opposite corner, sharpening her favourite sword, and he could hear the _skree, skree_ of the whetting stone.

The noise was strangely comforting, and ten minutes later, when Cedric and Harry went in, Rogue opened his eyes and went to sit by Erza. The red head wordlessly handed him a dagger, and he tucked it in his boot and tied his shoulder length hair back with a leather band.

Gathering his shadows in preparation, he and Erza stood by the doors, waiting for their cannon to go off. As the shot sounded, they nodded at each other and ran out onto the field, only to be greeted immediately by a blast of fire. When the smoke cleared, Erza took to the air, wearing her flame-empress armour, distracting the dragon whilst Rogue talked to it.

" _Oh mighty Horntail, I beg you, please do not kill me or my comrade. I come with honourable intentions. One of the eggs the humans have placed in your nest is an imposter. Please allow me to remove it_ ," he hissed in the strange raspy tongue of the dragons.

The dragon turned her attention from Erza to him. " _Why should I believe you, hatchling_?" She hissed in return.

Rogue inclined his head. " _You must simply investigate your nest and locate the imposter. If you give it to me, I shall dispose of it_ ," he replied, and the dragon wandered over to her nest. Sniffing the eggs, her reptilian eyes widened in surprise as she realised that one of the eggs was indeed fake. She carefully picked it up in her mouth and carried it over to Rogue and Erza, who had now landed on the ground.

" _I must thank you for bringing this to my attention. As a reward, I shall not kill you or your comrade_ ," she said, dropping the egg into Rogue's hands before giving him a wide, fanged grin.

The shadow-dragon slayer smiled in return, and held the egg over his head in a sign of triumph. The crowd went wild, and no-one cheered louder than a certain bookwormish brunette in the Hogwarts stands.

After the champions were cleaned up, and any wounds treated, they were allowed to mingle with their schoolmates. As soon as Rogue left the tent, he was thumped on the back by Sting, who congratulated him, as did the rest of his guild. Then, Hermione cane rocketing out of the crowd after greeting Harry.

She grabbed him in a bone-crushing hug, giving him a face full of hair. "I'm so glad you're safe," she whispered into his chest, and squeezed him even tighter. Luckily for Rogue's ribs, the judges chose that moment to announce the placings.

"In third place, we have Durmstrang School for Young Wizards and Witches. For this, they gain no points. In second place, we have Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, who have a total of 5 points. And in first place, we have Mahoutokoro Academy of Magical Prowess, who now have 10 points!" Dumbledore announced over the loudspeaker. Hermione cheered with the rest of her new friends, and joined the parade as they carried Rogue and Erza into the Great Hall for lunch.

* * *

 **A/N - Dragons. Rarrr. I'm sure Natsu's depressed about not being the champion now, but it's for the best - I mean, he probably would have spent the whole time trying to get the dragon to tell him where Igneel was...even if it didn't know...**

 **I love all you wonderful reviewers, keep doing what you do best. Hope you're enjoying the story so far •^_^•**


	8. Chapter 7: Bonus Scene

**The second chapter - as promised. Enjoy •^_^•**

 **Disclaimer: Every time I have to write this, it really does kill a little bit of my soul. I still don't own Fairy Tail or Harry Potter.**

* * *

Over the next few weeks, Hermione was too busy going to classes and trying to avoid the headmaster to think about anything else - namely the Yule Ball.

It was when she and Harry were working on their potions end of term practice essays that she was harshly reminded by a certain red head.

"So," Ron said, smirking. "It's your lucky day, 'Mione, because I don't have a date yet - and I've decided to go with you!" He wasn't expecting her to glare at him - be grateful, maybe, but glare? No way.

"Oh, you _have_ , have you, _Ronald_?" She hissed, and his smirk faded to be replaced with a frown.

"Well, yeah, I mean, I don't want to be dateless - at this rate I'll have to go with Eloise Midgen! No offence to her, but I'd rather go with you. I mean, at least you don't have her awful acne. And it's not like you'll be able to get anyone either, I mean, look at you!" He said cruelly, annoyed at her unimpressed expression.

At this, Harry jumped up. "Oh you little-" He was cut off by Hermione.

"Thanks, Harry, but I can handle this myself." She turned to Ron, and if looks could kill, the red head would be six feet under. "Just because you didn't have the foresight to get a date before everyone else did, doesn't mean that you'll be dateless at the ball - Eloise is actually a very nice girl, maybe you should take the time to get to know her." The shy Ravenclaw girl smiled thankfully at Hermione for this, and the brunette smiled back. "Secondly, what _exactly_ makes you think that I would drop everything to go with you? Because I sure as hell won't." With that Hermione picked up her completed essay and handed it in to Snape. Right before she left, she turned back to a smug Harry and astonished Ron.

"Oh, and for the record, Ronald, I _do_ have a date." With an uncharacteristically exaggerated flip of her hair, she left, and the room burst into applause, a few people even cheering.

Ron's face turned red enough to match his flaming hair, and he sat back down meekly in his seat, silently fuming, as the potions professor hissed at the class to shut up. When no-one was looking, though, Snape smirked, mentally congratulating his favourite student, and Gryffindor suddenly gained a few house-points.

Deciding to head to charms early, Hermione grumbled to herself on her way there.

"Stupid fucking Ron with his big mouth and dumb ideas," she muttered under her breath, making a certain shadow dragon-slayer chuckle. Hermione tensed, but relaxed and smiled once she saw Rogue.

"Hey," she said softly. He grinned at her.

"Hey yourself. Heard about what happened with Weasley. Well done," he said, winking.

Hermione blushed. "It was nothing, but...how did you find out?" She asked. "I only left class about five minutes ago."

"Sting," he said simply, and Hermione smiled.

She had grown rather fond of the blonde, but he didn't seem to be able to keep his nose out of other people's business. "Does he know about the whole Yule thing." She asked.

"What Yule thing? You mean the one where I asked you to be my date?" Rogue smirked. "Of course, I-wait a second, I don't think I told him!" He said, sounding surprised.

Hermione had to hold back a snort, and suddenly smiled deviously. "Well, we might as well use the opportunity. I don't think we should tell them who we're going with, and just keep it a secret instead. Can you imagine the looks of surprise on their faces!" She said enthusiastically, blushing slightly as she thought of Lucy's knowing smirk.

Rogue returned her demonic expression.

"You," he said, "are brilliant. Someone has to make sure Sting is drinking _something_ at the time - I have a hunch he's going to ask Minerva and we all know what her response will be if he ruins her dress with fruit punch!" He laughed evilly, and Hermione joined in.

"Oh god," she said. "This is going to be so much fun!"

Rogue winked at her. "I've got to go to transfiguration now, but make sure you tell me when you've got your clothes for the Yule Ball so we can coordinate," he said before melting back into the shadows. Fortunately for Hermione, he didn't catch her horrified expression at the mention of clothes - she didn't have anything to wear, and there was no way she would know what to get. There was only one thing for it. She needed Lucy Heartfilia's help.

* * *

At the dinner table, everyone looked up at the sound of a high pitched squeal.

"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!" Lucy gushed, her excitement making Hermione nervous. She knew the blonde was planning something, but what?

"I've just had the _best_ idea! According to Loke, one of my spirits, a new mall has opened up in the celestial world, and it's supposed to be amazing! I think we should go - you, me and the other girls, on a shopping spree!" She said excitedly. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief that the blonde's plan wasn't at all humiliating, and Yukino joined in the conversation.

"But I thought humans weren't allowed in the celestial world? Plus, time goes faster over there," she said frowning.

"Oh it's fine," Lucy assured the silver haired mage. "Old 'Stache face is a friend of mine - he's like a second father to me! Also, he controls the flow of time, so he could, if we asked nicely, make sure that not much time passes."

Yukino grinned. "'Old 'Stache face'?" She asked amusedly. "You call the celestial spirit king ' _Old 'Stache face_ '?! You do realise he is the most powerful being in the entire Celestial World, and is probably more powerful than most wizards and mages in our world, right?"

Lucy grinned. "Yup!" She said brightly. She whipped out Virgos, key and summoned the maid. "Hey, Virgo. Could you go ask 'Stache face if me and my female friends can go to Starfall Mall?"

The pink-haired woman bowed. "As you wish, Princess," she said, and disappeared.

Lucy turned to Hermione and tilted her head. "So...I'm guessing that you have a Yule date, if you want to go shopping, so who is he? Or she, it doesn't bother me," she said, raising an eyebrow.

Hermione grinned deviously. "He, but as for his actual identity...that's for me to know and you to find out," she replied, winking at the blonde.

"Oh you sneaky little..." Lucy said, bit mirrored Hermione's smirk. "Fine, I guess you'll have to wait to find out who I'm going with then."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Pffff, everyone knows that Natsu asked you the other day, so don't try that with me!" She said.

Lucy glared at the pinkette from across the table. "Stupid bloody loudmouthed pinky," she grumbled under her breath, and Yukino started laughing. Unfortunately for her, this attracted the attention of the other two girls, who sidled closer.

"So, Yukino," Lucy began. "Who're you going with, hmmm?" The silver-haired mage blushed, and tried to get away from the blonde.

"N-no one!" She said, and quickly stood up, hurrying out of the Great Hall. The two demons raised their eyebrows at one another and ran after her, determined to find out who it was.

When they reached the hallway, though, she was nowhere to be seen.

"Damnit!" Hermione cursed. "I was sure we'd catch her!"

Lucy patted her shoulder. "Don't worry. She can't hide from us forever!" She said with a terrifying smile. Before they could keep scheming, Virgo reappeared.

"Princess, the King sends his regards, and asked me to escort you and your friends to the Mall for a day of all expenses paid fun!" The maid said, smiling.

"Woooohoooo!" Lucy exclaimed. "Let's go shopping!" She grabbed Hermione and raced into the Great Hall, grabbing Erza, Levy, Minerva, Lisanna, Cana, Wendy and two other girls that Hermione didn't recognise.

Virgo flashed away, but returned almost immediately with Yukino in her arms. Putting the celestial mage down, Virgo magicked all the girls into celestial clothes and they disappeared to the astonishment of the onlooking students.

* * *

 **A/N - It's actually kind of pathetic how much I've been looking forward to writing Ron and Hermione's _special_ encounter... I wish the spirit world was real, because can you imagine all the adorable clothes they'd have in the malls there? *sigh* Oh well, guess I'll have to make do with stuff from Earthland. Reviews = happy author, happy author = more chapters. What? No, I'm not trying to bribe you at all! •^_^•**


	9. Chapter 8: Rejection

**Another little filler chapter for you guys •^_^•**

 **Disclaimer: Harry Potter. Fairy Tail. Two things that I wish I did own...**

* * *

Hermione gasped as they landed. It was beautiful! The Mall had a glass roof, so they could see all the stars in the sky, and everything was so bright and... _sparkly_!

"Okay'" Lucy said. "Quick introductions, for those of you who don't know one another - Hermione, Erza, Levy, Wendy, Chelia, Juvia, Minerva, Lisanna and Cana." She pointed at each of them in turn, but the girls barely had time to acknowledge each other before several other spirits appeared. One was a stunning blunette with a fish tail, another was a cute pink-haired girl dressed in a woolly dress, and the last was a striking asian girl in a belly top and genie pants.

"Aries! Aquarius!" Lucy greeted the first two, hugging the startled sheep girl, and bowing towards the mermaid who huffed in response, but looked pleased.

"Libra!" Yukino said, her greeting slightly calmer than Lucy's, and embraced the third women.

Lucy turned back to the girls. "Okay, these are some of the spirits that Yukino and I have contracts with, and they'll be joining us today!" The blonde said excitedly.

Having finished all the introductions, the expanded group set off, determined to find the perfect outfits.

* * *

5 hours, several cups of coffee and a few tidal waves later, the girls entered their last shop. All of them had their dresses except for Hermione, and they were determined to find her one before they left.

Lucy clapped her hands, grabbing the others attention. "Okay, ladies," she said. "We need a dress for Hermione. Having discussed the matter with her over our last coffee break, I can reveal the requirements: first of all, it must be full length. Second, it must be navy blue to match her guild mark. And finally, it must be gorgeous enough to drive Rogue _crazy_!" Her enthusiasm distracted the girls from the last bit for a moment, but then they realised what she had said.

"WHAT?!" They all screamed in unison, except for Juvia.

"Juvia thinks that Hermione and Rogue make a good couple," she stated, and Lisanna lost her startled expression and nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah! They're both kind of bookish and really smart, and they just compliment each other so well!" She said.

All the other girls murmured in agreement, and Minerva walked over to a tomato-red Hermione and smirked at her. "Have a little crush on Rogue, do we?" She said slyly.

"I-ah, um...just. Maybe." The brunette finally admitted, and much to her surprise, instead of teasing her, Minerva squealed, and ran off to find the perfect dress.

"What was that about?" Hermione wondered aloud, and Lucy grinned.

"She gets rather... _excited_ about other people's love lives. And she gets super into it as well, so don't be surprised if you find yourself locked in a cupboard with Rogue, or something," the blonde said casually.

"Locked in a cupboard?!" Hermione squeaked.

"Yeah, that happened to me and Gajeel a few days ago," Levy said, blushing as everyone turned to look at her. "I, ah, did I say that out loud?" She asked awkwardly.

Hermione and Lucy wore matching evil grins. "Why, yes, dearest Levy. You _did_. Now, what's this about?" The blonde said, moving closer.

The petite blunette blushed and tried to back away, but the demon duo cornered her.

"Well, um, Minerva might have found my diary, and she might have read a bit about a certain dragon-slayer. And then she locked us in a cupboard. That-that's all that happened" she said, shifting uncomfortably.

"Oh, is it now? What really happened in the cupboard?" Hermione asked, and Levy blushed even more violently.

"Some...stuff," she said evasively, and Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Be more specific!" She said, poking her friend.

"Well, uh, he askedmetobehisdatetotheyuleball!" Levy said in a rush, and both girls squealed.

"Thank god for Minerva!" Hermione exclaimed, and the girl in question reappeared.

"What about me?" She asked, but her question was never answered, because Lucy spied the dress she had over her arm.

"Oooh! Let's see!" She said, and snatched the dress up, holding it out.

It fell to the floor in a wave of shimmering blue fabric, with pale gold edging along the hem and neckline. It had short sleeves made of stardust silk, which were semi-transparent with a golden tinge.

Lucy squealed. "It's gorgeous! Rogue is going to _lose it_!" She said, jumping around like a lunatic.

Hermione blushed, but rolled her eyes at the blonde's antics.

Now that they had finally found a dress for Hermione, the girls went back to Earth and got some well-needed rest.

* * *

 **A/N - Hah, Lucy ships them now - imagine her reaction when she finds out they're actually going to the ball together! A little bit of GaLe for all you shippers out there! As always, reviews are welcome •^_^•**


	10. Chapter 9: Celestial Shopping

**Disclaimer: *cry* I still don't own Harry Potter or Fairy Tail...**

* * *

The Christmas holidays were fast approaching, and Hogwarts was busy getting into the festive spirit. The traditional 24 Christmas trees had been brought in a few weeks early, so that Hogwarts students who were returning home would be able to see them this year. Hermione and her new girl friends had gone on a Christmas shopping spree in Hogsmeade, and they had bought almost all their Christmas presents. In fact, everyone had except for her. But now she was stuck - she had no idea what to buy for Rogue! Lucy hadn't been much help, and even Minerva had been clueless.

Hermione walked to the Great Hall deep in thought, before the solution to her problem hit her. Literally. As she walked round the corner, she walked straight into a certain blonde dragon-slayer; adoptive brother of her problematic...date? Well, that _was_ what Rogue was to her.

Smiling, she grabbed the blonde's arm and dragged him into an empty classroom, closing the door behind them.

"What sort of things does Rogue like?" She asked straight away. Sting blinked, taking a few minutes to process her question and realise why she was asking it.

"Oh, you want to get him something for Christmas. Ummm, he likes dragons, but if he has anything...dragon-y, he likes it to be subtle - understated. He thinks that a dragon-slayer liking dragons is overrated. Which it kind of is. Oh, and his favourite colour isn't black as you might think, but rather dark blue - kinda like your guild mark. What else? Oh! If you really want to show him you care, get a present for Frosch - y'now, his exceed? He absolutely adores her, so she's basically his weak spot," he said, and Hermione nodded before heading to breakfast. She knew exactly what to get Frosch, and she had an idea for Rogue, but she needed to find a way to head back into Hogsmeade. _Maybe I could borrow Harry's invisibility cloak_ , she thought, and looked for her best-friend, but her wasn't sat at the Gryffindor table - in fact, he wasn't even in the Great Hall. Hermione frowned and headed back to Gryffindor tower, hoping to catch him alone on his way down - and she did. But he wasn't exactly alone.

The first sign was that she could hear invisible voices, then she saw the floating feet - and she knew it was Harry under his cloak.

 _What on earth is he doing?_ She thought.

"Accio Harry's invisibility cloak," she muttered, and gasped when another person was revealed. Because that person was none other than Yukino Auguria!

The silver-haired mage squeaked and blushed, as did Harry.

"H-hey, Hermione," he said nervously.

Hermione smirked at them, raising her eyebrows in a questioning manner. "So, Yukino, is _Harry_ your mysterious Yule Ball date, then?" She asked, and the celestial mage squirmed.

"I-uh, ah...maybe," she said, avoiding Hermione's eyes. Harry put an arm around Yukino and pulled slightly closer to him, and Hermione's grin grew even wider.

"Well then," she said. "I'll leave you two to it." And with that she quickly ran off.

 _Probably to tell Lucy_ , they thought worriedly.

The couple were so embarrassed that Harry didn't even realise that Hermione still had his invisibility cloak, and the brunette quickly made her way to the Honeydukes passage, putting the cloak over herself as she went.

"Lumos," she whispered, and the spell gave her enough light to see down the tunnel. It was dusty, probably from misuse, and Hermione had to be careful that she didn't trip over the tree roots on the floor.

She crept out of the basement door without anyone noticing, and quickly hurried across the street to the clothing shop.

 _Thank god I wore the cloak_ , she thought, seeing several Mahoutokoro Professors sat outside the Three Broomsticks, downing glasses of unknown liquids. Hermione shuddered as she saw Cana, the brunette bringing up bad memories of that night, and she didn't question the presence of a student, instead hurrying towards her destination.

The bell jingled as Hermione entered, and the shop owner looked up, confused when he didn't see anyone there. Hermione removed her, or rather _Harry's_ , cloak, and explained to the man what she needed. He nodded, and a few minutes later come out with the requested items.

"Thank you," Hermione said gratefully, picking up the small bag and heading to the jewellers.

She found the piece she had been thinking about buying Rogue, and quickly bought it, anxious to get back to Hogwarts before anyone noticed her absence.

Sure enough, no one said anything as Hermione walked into transfiguration and sat next to Lucy, making Harry stiffen as he thought about what the girls could be talking talking about.

"You remember Yukino's secret Yule Ball date?" Hermione whispered to Lucy, and the blonde nodded. "Well, I know his identity now."

The girl turned to her friend faster than humanly possible. "Who?!" She demanded, forgetting to be quiet.

Hermione shushed her, and leaned over to whisper in her ear. "Second row front the front of the class, three seats away from the door."

Lucy gasped. " _Harry?!_ " She hissed, and Hermione nodded.

The blonde squealed, drawing the worried boy's attention.

"Oh god," he whispered to himself, running a hand through his messy black hair.

The two girls would probably have continued gossiping, but thankfully for Harry's nerves, Professor McGonagall chose that moment to sweep in and begin the class.

* * *

Later on, in the Great Hall, Dumbledore made yet another announcement involving the visiting wizards and mages.

"As the Christmas holidays approach, I am sure you are all getting in a festive mood. Now, for all those Hogwarts wizards returning to their families for the holidays, I would like you to consider inviting some of our foreign friends to stay, even if just for a day. Myself and the other headmasters believe it would be a wonderful opportunity for you to all get to know one another better, and for those of you staying, you will need to put your names on the same sheet as normal - first years should ask their head of houses about it," he said before clapping his hands to summon the food and sitting back down.

Hermione turned to her friends, excited, as an idea started to grow in her head. Not many people knew this - none, actually, at Hogwarts, but her parents were...rather well off in the muggle world. _Very_ well off. In fact, her father was first in line to a lordship - through his father's brother, Uncle Andrew, who had no children of his own, which in turn meant that Hermione would one day be Lady Granger. They had a very large house - Uncle Andrew had given them Granger Manor and moved into a smaller property when his health started to decline, so there would be more than enough room for all her new friends. Plus, Hermione knew her parents would say yes. She hadn't had many friends in school, so her parents were very encouraging in the 'social aspect of her life', as they called it.

"Do you want to stay with me and my family over the holidays?" She asked, confusing all of her foreign friends.

"Um, Hermione, who was that question directed at?" Lucy asked the question they were all thinking.

"What? All of you, of course!" She replied, as if it was obvious.

"Hermione, sweetie, do you even realise how many of us there are?!" Lucy said slowly. Hermione rolled her eyes at the blonde.

"No one here know this, it's not really something I like talking about because it seems too much lik bragging, but my dad's...well, he's actually first in line for a lordship from his Uncle Andrew, and as I'm an only child as well, that means I'm next in line - one day I'll be Lady Granger!" She said, quickly continuing as she noticed her friends shocked expressions.

"Anyway, after Auntie Maria died - that's Uncle Andrew's wife, he moved out of Granger Manor into a smaller cottage, and told my dad to move his family in." It was obvious that she was fond of her uncle by the way she spoke about him. "And when I say told, I mean _told!_ The geezer wouldn't take no for an answer. He always was a stubborn old fool. But, yeah, the point is we have more than enough rooms to accommodate you all. The manor's pretty big, even by the standards of people like Malfoy. There's my parents' suite, mine, about ten-ish guest suites and close to twenty more bedrooms."

Everyone gasped, and tried to get their minds around the sheer number of guests the manor could hold, and Hermione, oblivious, still kept going. "Also, at least half of the guest rooms have ensuites. So, yeah, in other words, there's more than enough room for all of you - even if we all had different rooms, which would be boring! I mean, what's the point in you all staying if we can't have a sleepover?"

"But Hermione, would your parents be cool with this?" Natsu asked, the only one not fazed by Hermione's newly discovered wealth.

"Of course! I was a pretty lonely person before I came to Hogwarts - my only friends were in books! So my parents would like me having a social life for once." She grinned.

Hermione turned to look at Lucy. "So who would come? Obviously you, Natsu, Erza, Happy and Gray. Oh and the other Fairy Tail girls, so Juvia, Cana, Lisanna, Levy and Wendy, so I'd have to ask Chelia as well. Then obviously Yukino, Minerva, Sting, Rogue, Frosch and Lector. And then the other exceeds, how could I forget Carla and Panther-Lily. Ooh, and if Lisanna's coming, Elfman and Professor Mira have to as well. And Romeo for Wendy and Chelia...Gajeel for Levy..." She paused and looked up from a pad of paper she had conjured and was scribbling furiously on. "Would Laxus come? Might as well invite him. Umm, who else? Aha, Jellal for Erza, of course." She stopped writing. "That's everyone off the top of my head - of course, all guests are invited to bring guests, provided I'm introduced beforehand," she finished, and smiled at everyone's gobsmacked expressions. She summoned her small army of quills, and within minutes all the formal invitations were done. She sent them off to their recipients with a quick spell, and left the Great Hall with a skip in her step, humming a little tune, the majority of her Mahoutokoro friends staring after her, mouths wide open, still trying process what exactly just happened.

* * *

 **A/N - Dayum Hermione, drop a bombshell on them why don't you! I think she would have an army of quills - can you guys see that? Yeah... Anyway, the scene is set for a sleepover of epic proportions - forget pillow _fights_ , this would mean an all-out _war_!**

 **Yes, there is a smidgen of RoWen in this fic, and maybe some Evelia (Eve x Chelia, idk if there is a name for them) if I ever get round to mentioned him... Most of the characters are 14/15, except the teachers and some students (Erza etc). Wendy, Chelia, Eve and Romeo are all 13/14 - in the same year as Ginny and Luna.**

 **Reviews are the marshmallows to my s'mores (hungry rn, don't judge) so keep it up •^_^•**


	11. Chapter 10: Yukino's Date

**i love new storys - Thank you so much •^_^•**

 **Guest - Yeah, I know! Honestly, I'd probably go back and take that bit out if I could be bothered but...I'm lazy**

 **Disclaimer: *cry* I still don't own Harry Potter or Fairy Tail...**

* * *

The Christmas holidays were fast approaching, and Hogwarts was busy getting into the festive spirit. The traditional 24 Christmas trees had been brought in a few weeks early, so that Hogwarts students who were returning home would be able to see them this year. Hermione and her new girl friends had gone on a Christmas shopping spree in Hogsmeade, and they had bought almost all their Christmas presents. In fact, everyone had except for her. But now she was stuck - she had no idea what to buy for Rogue! Lucy hadn't been much help, and even Minerva had been clueless.

Hermione walked to the Great Hall deep in thought, before the solution to her problem hit her. Literally. As she walked round the corner, she walked straight into a certain blonde dragon-slayer; adoptive brother of her problematic...date? Well, that _was_ what Rogue was to her.

Smiling, she grabbed the blonde's arm and dragged him into an empty classroom, closing the door behind them.

"What sort of things does Rogue like?" She asked straight away. Sting blinked, taking a few minutes to process her question and realise why she was asking it.

"Oh, you want to get him something for Christmas. Ummm, he likes dragons, but if he has anything...dragon-y, he likes it to be subtle - understated. He thinks that a dragon-slayer liking dragons is overrated. Which it kind of is. Oh, and his favourite colour isn't black as you might think, but rather dark blue - kinda like your guild mark. What else? Oh! If you really want to show him you care, get a present for Frosch - y'now, his exceed? He absolutely adores her, so she's basically his weak spot," he said, and Hermione nodded before heading to breakfast. She knew exactly what to get Frosch, and she had an idea for Rogue, but she needed to find a way to head back into Hogsmeade. _Maybe I could borrow Harry's invisibility cloak_ , she thought, and looked for her best-friend, but her wasn't sat at the Gryffindor table - in fact, he wasn't even in the Great Hall. Hermione frowned and headed back to Gryffindor tower, hoping to catch him alone on his way down - and she did. But he wasn't exactly alone.

The first sign was that she could hear invisible voices, then she saw the floating feet - and she knew it was Harry under his cloak.

 _What on earth is he doing?_ She thought.

"Accio Harry's invisibility cloak," she muttered, and gasped when another person was revealed. Because that person was none other than Yukino Auguria!

The silver-haired mage squeaked and blushed, as did Harry.

"H-hey, Hermione," he said nervously.

Hermione smirked at them, raising her eyebrows in a questioning manner. "So, Yukino, is _Harry_ your mysterious Yule Ball date, then?" She asked, and the celestial mage squirmed.

"I-uh, ah...maybe," she said, avoiding Hermione's eyes. Harry put an arm around Yukino and pulled slightly closer to him, and Hermione's grin grew even wider.

"Well then," she said. "I'll leave you two to it." And with that she quickly ran off.

 _Probably to tell Lucy_ , they thought worriedly.

The couple were so embarrassed that Harry didn't even realise that Hermione still had his invisibility cloak, and the brunette quickly made her way to the Honeydukes passage, putting the cloak over herself as she went.

"Lumos," she whispered, and the spell gave her enough light to see down the tunnel. It was dusty, probably from misuse, and Hermione had to be careful that she didn't trip over the tree roots on the floor.

She crept out of the basement door without anyone noticing, and quickly hurried across the street to the clothing shop.

 _Thank god I wore the cloak_ , she thought, seeing several Mahoutokoro Professors sat outside the Three Broomsticks, downing glasses of unknown liquids. Hermione shuddered as she saw Cana, the brunette bringing up bad memories of that night, and she didn't question the presence of a student, instead hurrying towards her destination.

The bell jingled as Hermione entered, and the shop owner looked up, confused when he didn't see anyone there. Hermione removed her, or rather _Harry's_ , cloak, and explained to the man what she needed. He nodded, and a few minutes later come out with the requested items.

"Thank you," Hermione said gratefully, picking up the small bag and heading to the jewellers.

She quickly found the piece she had been thinking about buying Rogue, and quickly purchased it, anxious to get back to Hogwarts before anyone noticed her absence.

Sure enough, no one said anything as Hermione walked into transfiguration and sat next to Lucy, making Harry stiffen as he thought about what the girls could be talking talking about.

"You remember Yukino's secret Yule Ball date?" Hermione whispered to Lucy, and the blonde nodded. "Well, I know his identity now."

The girl turned to her friend faster than humanly possible. "Who?!" She demanded, forgetting to be quiet.

Hermione shushed her, and leaned over to whisper in her ear. "Second row front the front of the class, three seats away from the door."

Lucy gasped. " _Harry?!_ " She hissed, and Hermione nodded.

The blonde squealed, drawing the worried boy's attention.

"Oh god," he whispered to himself, running a hand through his messy black hair.

The two girls would probably have continued gossiping, but thankfully for Harry's nerves, Professor McGonagall chose that moment to sweep in and begin the class.

 _-HP-FT-_

Later on, in the Great Hall, Dumbledore made yet another announcement involving the visiting wizards and mages.

"As the Christmas holidays approach, I am sure you are all getting in a festive mood. Now, for all those Hogwarts wizards returning to their families for the holidays, I would like you to consider inviting some of our foreign friends to stay, even if just for a day. Myself and the other headmasters believe it would be a wonderful opportunity for you to all get to know one another better, and for those of you staying, you will need to put your names on the same sheet as normal - first years should ask their head of houses about it," he said before clapping his hands to summon the food and sitting back down.

Hermione turned to her friends, excited. Not many people knew this - none, actually, but her parents were very well off in the muggle world. _Very_ well off. In fact, her father was first in line to a lordship - through his father's brother, Uncle Andrew, who had no children of his own, which in turn meant that Hermione would one day be Lady Granger. They had a very large house - Uncle Andrew had given them Granger Manor and moved into a smaller property when his health started to decline, so there would be more than enough room for all her new friends. Plus, Hermione knew her parents would say yes. She hadn't had many friends in school, so her parents were very encouraging in the 'social aspect of her life', as they called it.

"Do you want to stay with me and my family over the holidays?" She asked, confusing all of her foreign friends.

"Um, Hermione, who was that question directed at?" Lucy asked the question they were all thinking.

"What? All of you, of course!" She replied, as if it was obvious.

"Hermione, sweetie, do you even realise how many of us there are?!" Lucy said slowly. Hermione rolled her eyes at the blonde.

"No one here know this, but my dad's actually first in line for a lordship from his Uncle Andrew, and as I'm an only child as well, that means I'm next in line - one day I'll be Lady Granger!" She said, quickly continuing as she noticed her friends shocked expressions.

"Anyway, after Auntie Maria died - that's Uncle Andrew's wife, he moved out of Granger Manor into a smaller cottage, and told my dad to move his family in." It was obvious that she was fond of her uncle by the way she spoke about him. "And when I say told, I mean _told_! The geezer wouldn't take no for an answer. He always was a stubborn old fool. But, yeah, the point is we have more than enough rooms to accommodate you all. The manor's pretty big, even by the standards of people like Malfoy. There's my parents' suite, mine, about twenty-ish guest suites and close to fifty more bedrooms."

Everyone gasped, and tried to get their minds around the sheer number of guests the manor could hold, and Hermione, oblivious, still kept going. "Also, roughly thirty of the guest rooms have ensuites. So, yeah, in other words, there's more than enough room for all of you - even if we all had different rooms, which would be boring! I mean, what's the point in you all staying if we can't have a sleepover?"

"But Hermione, would your parents be cool with this?" Natsu asked, the only one not fazed by Hermione's newly discovered wealth.

"Psssh, of course! I was a pretty lonely person before I came to Hogwarts - my only friends were in books! So my parents would like me having a social life for once."

Hermione turned to look at Lucy. "So who would come? Obviously you, Natsu, Erza, Happy, Gray, Juvia, Cana, Levy, Wendy, Chelia, Lisanna, Yukino, Minerva, Sting, Rogue, Frosch, Lector and Carla. Ooh, and if Lisanna's coming, Elfman and Professor Mira have to as well. And Romeo for Wendy...Gajeel and Panther-Lily for Levy..." She paused and looked up from a pad of paper she had conjured and was scribbling furiously on. "Would Laxus come? Might as well invite him. Umm, who else? Aha, Jellal for Erza, of course." She stopped writing. "That's everyone off the top of my head - of course, all guests will have a plus-one slip as well," she finished, and smiled at everyone's gobsmacked expressions. She summoned her small army of quills, and within minutes all the formal invitations were done. She sent them off to their recipients with a quick spell, and left the Great Hall with a skip in her step, humming a little tune, the majority of her Mahoutokoro friends staring after her, mouths wide open.

* * *

 **A/N - Dayum Hermione, drop a bombshell on them why don't you! I think she would have an army of quills - can you guys see that? Yeah... Anyway, the scene is set for a sleepover of epic proportions - forget pillow _fights_ , this would mean an all-out _war_!**

 **Yes, there is a smidgen of RoWen in this fic, and maybe some Evelia (Eve x Chelia, idk if there is a name for them). Most of the characters are 14/15, except the teachers and some students (Erza etc). Wendy, Chelia, Eve and Romeo are all 13/14 - in the same year as Ginny and Luna.**

 **Reviews are the marshmallows to my s'mores (hungry rn, don't judge) so keep it up •^_^•**


	12. Chapter 11: Magical Zoo

**Disclamer: Yeah...I still don't own Fairy Tail or Harry Potter...**

* * *

In no time at all, it was the last day of term. Everyone had accepted their invitations, except Laxus who was spending the holidays with his Grandpa, and Hermione had also invited Harry for the holidays and Ginny, Neville and Luna for the post-Christmas party she had decided to host on Boxing day. She had invited the rest of the Mahoutokoro students, all of Durmstrang and a select few from Hogwarts. Even Remus and Sirius had been invited, though the latter had to decline for obvious reasons. Hermione and her guests had commandeered two whole carriages of the express, and the brunette flitted between compartments before finally stopping in the one housing Lucy, Natsu, Happy, Erza, Harry, Sting, Rogue and Yukino. The journey passed quickly, everyone talking about the Yule Ball and eating sweets from the trolley.

"So, Hermione, how come your family's so rich?" Natsu asked with a mouth full of pumpkin pasty, earning a slap over the head from Erza.

Hermione tilted her head thoughtfully. "Lots of reasons, but the main one is probably the fact that we own most of the Midlands and about half of Northern England."

Harry started choking on his chocolate frog, and Sting thumped him on the back. "Bloody hell, 'Mione!" He exclaimed, drawing confused glances from the others.

He summoned a map of England and a pen and gave it to Hermione, who understood, and started to draw squiggly lines on it.

He almost passed out when she gave it back to him, and turned it so the others could see. "So, you know how big the UK is, right?" At the blank looks he got, he guessed not. "Well then, Japan is a bit bigger, so if you cut off about a third, they'd be roughly the same size." He held up the map. "And Hermione's family owns this much of it."

Once again, nobody spoke, and Hermione blushed a bit.

"Damn, Hermione!" Lucy said. "My family's pretty rich as well, but it's nothing in comparison with this!" Thankfully for Hermione, the train was nearing Kings Cross, so she quickly went round all the other compartments and made sure all her guests had their bags. As the train stopped, she led the group through the wall to where a convoy of limousines was waiting, much to the disbelief of all the other Hogwarts students, and they all piled in. Finally, Hermione and her closest friends piled into the last one, and they set off for the Granger family Manor, watching films on the DVD player to kill time.

When they arrived, Hermione's parents were stood on the steps, looking the picture of aristocratic perfection. Mrs Granger rushed down the steps to gather Hermione in a hug, and everyone was led into the entrance hall.

"Welcome! Welcome, everyone. Your bags shall be taken to your rooms, and as I'm sure you are all very hungry after such a long journey, we shall adjourn to the dining room," Mr Granger said, his booming voice carrying easily through the large room. The large group walked through numerous hallways, and eventually came to a room with large oak doors, and a matching table that could comfortably fit twice as many people as were there. After they were all seated, Mr Granger clapped his hands, and servants began carrying the platters of food in - there was something for everyone! From ratatouille to steak to sushi, and that was just the savoury dishes. The Grangers took the opportunity to catch up with Hermione and greet some of the guests, those sat the closest to them.

"Also, mum, dad, this is Rogue, one of the Mahoutokoro champions," Hermione looked nervously between them, and Rogue gave her an encouraging nod. "He's, um, also my Yule Ball date," she said, blushing.

Mrs Granger smiled, and Mr Granger clapped him on the back. "You've done well, m'boy. Women like Hermione and my lovely Jean are rare finds in this world! I don't have to tell you to behave, because I'm sure Hermione is perfectly capable of, how do you magic folk say it? 'Hexing your balls off.'" The older man let out a jolly laugh, and Sting and Harry snorted into their napkins as Rogue and Hermione blushed. Soon, the food was cleared away, and everyone was led to their rooms, saving the couple further embarrassment.

"Sorry about that," Hermione muttered, face still red.

Rogue smiled at her. "No need to apologise, after all, I agree with your father. I believe you can and would 'hex my balls' off if I did anything to hurt you - in fact, I give you my full permission to do so." He hugged her good night, and walked with Sting and the rest of the boys to the wing where they would be staying. Hermione ignored Lucy's snickers and led the girls to their wing.

"Alright, ladies. There are enough rooms for you all to have one each, but I thought it would be more fun if we stayed in groups - like dorms or something. Anyway, in the first suite we have Lisanna, Mirajane and Yukino. In the second, we have Wendy, Chelia, Carla and Frosch. Then, in the third one, Erza, Minerva, Juvia and Cana. Finally, Lucy and Levy will be bunking with me," Hermione said, and the girls said goodnight before getting some rest.

* * *

The next day, everyone met up at the breakfast table and started talking about random things, like how beautiful the Manor was, and how lovely the gardens must look in spring.

"So, what is there to do round here, Hermione?" Natsu asked, although with a mouthful of toast it sounded more like 'tho wut ith der to do rand hir, Hrminee?'

Whilst Erza was punishing the pinkette for his lack of manners, Hermione summoned a piece of paper and started a list.

"Okay, so there are a few villages and towns nearby that we could visit, or we could take a portkey and go further afield. Actually, we could spend a few days here on the grounds. There's an indoor pool in the East Garden, and we could go visit the zoo," she said, and at her friends shocked expressions quickly continued. "No no no! Technically we own the zoo and the land it's on, but it's a public attraction - not private. That would be a bit excessive. Oh! I almost forgot, we have to go and visit Razalaston at some point. It's the only completely wizard settlement in all of England - Hogsmeade is technically in Scotland. They have the most beautiful decorations, and the Christmas tree is absolutely gorgeous!" She said enthusiastically, a dreamy expression on her face.

"Okay then," Lucy said. "Could we go and see the zoo today?" She asked, and everybody else nodded.

"Sure," Hermione said, and soon the group was being loaded back into a convoy of SUVs to make their way to the far end of the estate.

Winter wasn't a very busy time for the zoo, as most people preferred to stay indoors and watch TV, where it was warm, but Hermione just cast a few heating spells over everyone, and it felt less like Winter. More like...Spring.

"No!" Harry said in disbelief as they got closer. "No way!"

Hermione looked at him quizzically. "What, Harry?" She asked, and her friend grinned.

"This is the zoo we went to for Dudley's eleventh birthday - just before I got my Hogwarts letter!" He replied, and Hermione laughed.

"I remember, you told me about that. When your fat whale of a cousin interrupted the conversation you were having with the snake, the glass disappeared and he fell in the tank. The keepers never did find Barry." The witch tilted her head to one side, deep in thought. "I don't know how I never realised it was our zoo you were talking about!"

Harry stared at her. "You called an exotic Brazilian boa constrictor _Barry_?! No bloody wonder he was desperate to leave!"

By this point, everyone in the car was laughing, and this continued for a few minutes until they reached the side entrance to the zoo.

After everyone was stood together again, Hermione spun round and clapped her hands. "Okay you guys, the muggle part of the zoo is pretty cool, but the really good bit is the new section - the magical section! After my parents found out I was a witch, they got introduced to the magical world as well, and they started up Britain's first magical zoo! It's not actually open to the public yet - the opening date was scheduled for Spring or Summer, but that's only because that's when more customers will come. It's practically all up and running now," she said, and lead them through the gates.

Natsu, Gray and Harry grinned when they saw the lions, and Elfman started going about how 'manly' they were. The girls all cooed over some cubs, as did most of the guys. By lunch time, they had seen all of the muggle zoo, and were headed to the food court so Natsu would shut up about his 'poor, poor stomach'. Initially, Erza had punched him in the stomach to stop him complaining about being hungry, so that was probably what he was moaning about, but everyone else was hungry now as well.

"Should we go to the magical part next?" Hermione asked the group, and all of the nodded - well, except for Natsu, who had recovered, and was busy inhaling several portions of fries.

After Erza had _convinced_ \- read: beaten - Natsu into leaving the food, they all made their way to the new entrance.

"Awesome!" Sting breathed when they stepped through.

Keeping in with the wizards theme of things being slightly...haphazard - Diagon Alley for example - creatures were everywhere. The more dangerous ones, like the dragons and fire crabs, had their own pens, but in the field directly across from the entrance, several hippogriffs, unicorns and thestrals wandered around, munching on grass. It was alarming for those who couldn't se the thestrals, as it seemed clumps of grass were floating in the air before disappearing. Hermione grinned, and bowed to one of the more inquisitive hippogriffs that had approached the group. After a few moments, the gesture was returned, and she mounted it before taking off, nodding at the others.

Everyone else looked on in wonder - especially those that had been present at the flying lesson - as Hermione performed smooth loops and tricks The brunette had seemed uncomfortable flying on a broom, but now...it was like watching a completely different person.

Hermione bowed exaggeratedly in response to the applause once she was back on the ground. "If anyone wants to try it out, I'll get a handler to come help later. Now - first stop the dragons!"

She led them through the grounds, stopping only to flash an ID pass at the guard outside the dragon gate.

"This should be obvious, but try not to aggravate them. Dragons aren't the most even tempered creatures." At the slayers looks of indignation, Hermione rolled her eyes. "I mean these kinds of dragons, idiots! Your dragons were more sentient...more understanding. And definitely more intelligent. The only things that common dragons care about are their nests, mates and offspring."

This made the slayers mutter about how much better their dragons were.

Hermione rolled her eyes, and led the group through the gate, and everyone's attention was immediately caught by a huge Chinese Fireball letting out a stream of fire.

"Awesome!" Natsu said under his breath, and the others nodded in agreement, whilst Hermione grinned at them.

Over the next few hours, they saw the fire crabs, manticores, nifflers, mooncalves, occamies and countless other magical creatures.

The day ended after a lesson from the handlers on how to fly a hippogriff, and the tired group piled back in the car to head back to the manor.

* * *

 **A/N - Had to put Barry in here, can anyone guess where the name of Razalaston came from?**

 **Ta for the reviews, you know I love 'em •^_^•**


	13. Chapter 12: Yule Ball

**I'll apologise in advance for this chapter if you like Ron, because he goes to a whole other level of nasty now...I should probably put a warning on this one**

 **Warning - Attempted rape and slight racism (because as you can tell, I don't have the highest opinion of Ronald Bilius Weasley)**

 **Disclaimer: Yep. Still don't own Harry Potter or Fairy Tail...**

* * *

In the days leading up the the Yule Ball, it was the only thing that anyone could think about. The girls were constantly talking about their dresses, and making plans to do each others hair and makeup, while the guys exchanged tips on how to keep your date happy.

Elfman in particular was nervous, having finally plucked up the courage to ask Evergreen, one of the young professors from Mahoutokoro that he had secretly liked since they were at Mahoutokoro Preparatory.

Hermione still couldn't get over the weird relationships between professors and students.

Before they knew it, the day was upon them, and every single student was rushing between rooms, borrowing makeup or finding lost ties - Natsu had even managed to briefly lose his portkey.

Fortunately, they found it, and everyone was ready to go by nine.

"Okay, in about 20 seconds these portkeys are going to activate and take us directly to Hogwarts. When you get there, try and find the others and we'll go in as a group," Hermione said, her face and outfit hidden by a cloak that made Sting nudge his brother.

Rogue scowled at his childish antics, and gave Hermione a quick grin, and saw her glossy lips return the gesture from the shadows under the hood.

The group felt the strange pull of the portkeys before they were transported to Hogwarts.

"Yeuch, that felt weird!" Natsu moaned, whilst Erza whacked him over the head.

"Shut up, idiot!" She said as Lucy walked towards him. "Lucy doesn't need your ridiculous complaining tonight!"

Natsu's head shot up, and his jaw fell open comically as he caught sight of his date.

Rogue watched the whole exchange with mild disinterest, waiting for his own date.

"Hello," a familiar voice whispered in his ear, and Rogue shivered.

He turned, and saw Hermione's full sensuous lips smirking at him from under the hood. Slowly, he lifted his hands, and drew the material away from her head and unfastened the gold clasp, letting it slip from his fingers and pool at her feet as be saw her outfit.

"Wow..." He said hoarsely, his throat suddenly dry. "You look... _amazing_..." He raised her hand to his mouth, and brushed his lips against her knuckles, drawing a blush from the beautiful witch.

"Shall we, my dear?" Rogue said, slipping his arm round Hermione's waist as they walked towards the doors.

"Right, champions! Champions over here! As per custom, you... _six_ will open the ball with a dance." The woman paused and winked at Hermione and Harry who looked rather worried. "I'm sure any _lessons_ you have had will come in _very_ useful now."

She gestured towards the doors, and the six couples stood straight as they walked through the doors.

Hermione's appearance generated several whispers, most people wondering who this gorgeous witch was, until Lavender recognised her roommate.

"Is that _Hermione Granger_?!" The vapid girl hissed disbelievingly.

"Oh my god! It _is_!" Parvati Patil said, almost squealing.

"What a slut, tarting up like that for the ball - I bet she's trying to steal my Won-Won from me!" Lavender said egotistically, flipping her hair.

The stupid, hypocritical girl hadn't bothered to lower her voice, so both Rogue and Hermione heard what she was saying, and the shadow dragon-slayer tightening his grip on his date's hand.

"She's just jealous, you know? I'm surprised she can even walk in a dress that short without flashing the whole room," he murmured, and Hermione nodded her head, subconsciously leaning closer to him.

"Mmm hmm, and besides, why would I go after that idiotic redhead when I have the perfect guy right next to me?" She replied, and Rogue blushed slightly.

"Attention, everyone!" Albus Dumbledore called out, and suddenly all conversations ceased. "As per tradition, the ball will start with the champions and their dates, so once this song is finished, the rest of you can join in! The Yule Ball of 1994 will now...begin!"

The band on stage started to play a song, and the champions and their partners began dancing.

Hermione was trying to ignore the strange tingly feeling she was getting from Rogue's hands as he placed one on her waist and kept the other firmly clasped in his own. She tried looking straight ahead, but that didn't work, as she met his eyes as she did so, and couldn't tear them away! Golden brown met blood red, and she could see his pupils dilating as they grew closer and closer...

Then the song ended, the other students clapping before making their own ways onto the dance floor. Hermione blinked, blushing as the applause shocked her out of her daze.

"S-sorry!" She said, quickly stepping away from Rogue. As she tripped over someone's foot, the brunette braced herself to make contact with the floor, and was pleasantly surprised when she didn't. Instead, she opened her eyes to see Rogue staring at her, arms wrapped firmly around her torso.

"Be careful, Hermione," he mumbled, blushing at their predicament. Once he was sure that she was steady again, the dragon-slayer released his date. "Do you want a drink, 'Mione?" He asked, and she nodded. "Okay, wait over with Harry and Yukino, I'll be back soon." He pointed towards their two friends who were sat at a table in the corner.

Hermione made her way over there, and opened her mouth to greet them, but was interrupted by a certain redhead.

"Hey, 'Mione, can I talk to you for a sec? Outside?" He asked, fidgeting slightly.

Hermione frowned, looking towards Harry quickly, who was listening in. She caught his eye, making sure he knew where she was going before agreeing. She didn't trust Ron at the moment - not with the way he'd been acting.

"What did you want to talk about, Ron?" She asked when they got outside.

Ron turned around and scowled. "You. Why did you come with that loser when you could've come with me?"

Hermione backed away ever so slightly. "He asked me first. And also, I didn't want to go with you, Ron."

"Bullshit!" He roared, and Hermione flinched. "I know what you want, Hermione, and it isn't some pansy _foreign_ kid." He grinned, but his eyes were cold. Suddenly, before she knew what had happened, Hermione found herself in a body-bind charm, courtesy of the boy in front of her, and Ron was kissing her cold, unmoving lips.

"See, 'Mione? That's what you want, isn't it," he asked, and Hermione shook her head, the charm not quite reaching her head, or toes.

Ron's scowl returned, and his hands rose from her waist to her breasts. Hermione's expression filled with terror as she realised what he was trying to do. She desperately tried to move anything but her head, but the charm was wearing off too slowly.

"How about this, then?" He smirked, and moved his hands to the back of her dress, undoing the buttons one by one. "Or this? Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you, you little mudblood _whore_!"

Hermione squeezed her teary eyes shut, praying that someone - anyone would find her and stop Ron before it was too late.

Harry was worried. Hermione had only just left the hall, but still - something didn't feel right. Looking around for Rogue, Harry cursed the fact that so many people seemed to have black hair. He suddenly caught sight of a blonde having a conversation with a blunette, and headed towards them.

"Lucy! Hey, Lucy! Have you seen Rogue?" He yelled, and the blonde nodded.

"He was in line to get some punch last I saw him!" She yelled back, grinning before returning to her conversation.

Harry struggled through the crowd, finally reaching the punch table. He could see Rogue near the front of the queue and hurried towards him.

"Hey, Harry. What's up?" He asked, seeing the other boy's worried expression.

"Hermione just went outside with Ron. He said he wanted to talk - something just doesn't feel right," Harry replied, and Rogue swore.

"Where'd he take her?" He demanded. Harry pointed to a small set of doors that headed out onto the grounds, and Rogue headed towards them.

"Hermione!" He yelled. "Where are you, 'Mione?" No response.

He traipsed through the foliage, following her scent. When he found her, there were no words for how he felt. Rage was the closest thong he could think of. Unending, inexplicable rage.

He roared and charged at the Weasley boy, knocking him out of the way. Jumping on top of the redhead, Rogue began hitting him, throwing punch after punch until his face was practically unrecognisable. It was only when he heard Hermione call his name that he began to come back to his senses, breathing heavily. He could smell her tears.

Turning to his date, Rogue helped her do up her dress, and handed her his jacket to stop the shivering. It was about half a minute before she broke down, sobbing.

"H-he tried t-to...to..." She cried, her tears leaking into his shoulder.

"Shhh, 'Mia. It's going to be absolutely fine now. I'm here. I won't let him hurt you. I won't let _anyone_ hurt you. I swear it, you are my-the only thing that matters to me," _love_ , he almost said.

When she calmed down, he sat her down on a bench, casting a quick glance at Weasley to make sure he was still unconscious.

"I...He said he wanted to talk, but when we got out here he started insulting you, saying I should've gone with him. Then when I told him I didn't want to...h-he cast the b-body-bind charm on m-me! I couldn't do _a-anything_ he almost...he almost..." Hermione started sobbing again.

The doors to the Great Hall suddenly smashed open, and a tall dark haired figure in severe black robes walked out. "Mr Cheney, Miss Granger... _Hermione_...what happened?" Professor Snape said, kneeling on the ground next to them.

Rogue scowled and jerked his head towards Weasley. "That-that _bastard_ assaulted Hermione. He was going to _rape_ her!" Snape recoiled.

"Miss Gr-Hermione, is this true?" He asked angrily, glaring at the unconscious redhead.

Hermione nodded, still sobbing into Rogue's shirt. "Mr Cheney, escort your date to the hospital wing, wait there with her until I return. I will _take care_ of Mr Weasley," he sneered at the name, "and escort him to a safe holding space before contacting Albus. This will _not_ go unpunished - however much that meddling old coot tries to play favourites with certain families, I can assure you of that." The Professor stood up and marched away, levitating the piece of scum behind him, _accidentally_ hitting the boy's head against several branches.

"C'mon, 'Mione. Let's get you inside," Rogue said gently, and Hermione tensed.

"I don't...want anyone to see me like this, Rogue," she whispered, and he stood, pulling her to his feet.

"We won't be seen, then. Shadow travel is, in my opinion, the best form of transport, don't you think?" He said, and the teary eyed witch smiled at him and nodded, then the two melted into the darkness.

* * *

The Headmaster had been easier to convince than Severus had thought he would be. Considering how much the old coot favoured the Weasleys - forever bailing the little brats out of trouble, especially the twins - he had thought it would be much harder to get Ronald Weasley expelled. Pouring himself a shot of firewhiskey, Severus Snape leant back in his chair and thought about what had happened this evening.

 _A furious Severus Snape marched through the Great Hall, some students actually diving out of his way as he stormed past. Even the oldest students had never seen the man this angry - it was terrifying._

 _A young blonde girl gasped as she saw Weasley floating behind him. "That's my Won-Won! What have you done to him?" The idiot demanded._

 _Any other time, Severus would have ignored the girl and kept going, but he felt the need to tell everyone about what Weasley had tried to do. This way, at least if the old coot kept the brat in school, the other students would know about their fellow classmate. A rather Gryffindor move, but still..._

 _"Mr Weasley was caught outside attempting to - to_ _**rape**_ _one of your fellow students. I say attempt, because the little sh-the brat was stopped by the young girl's date, but I loathe to think what would have otherwise happened. I now have to discuss this matter further with the Headmaster, but it is my hope that he will do the responsible thing and expel Weasley before he has a chance to try again."_

Thinking back on it, that would probably have been the thing that made Albus _have_ to expel the boy! If Weasley had stayed, and some of those children had written home to their parents...well, that would _not_ have gone down well for the old coot. Who knew that such a Gryffindor move would serve to be so... _Slytherin_!

Severus grimaced and downed several shots worth of firewhiskey at once, chugging directly from the bottle. He sighed as his thoughts strayed to the girl who was rapidly becoming his favourite student - and he would actually admit it.

Hermione Granger never ceased to amaze him, and the young girl had such innate ability in potions that Severus was honestly considering offering her an apprenticeship. This would be the same man who wanted so badly to not ever have an apprentice that he had asked Albus Dumbledore to put a clause in his contract about it! The alcohol started to make the potions master's head spin, and he passed out in his office, to pleasant dreams - memories, rather - of humiliating Weasley in his class.

* * *

After they made it back to Granger Manor, Rogue told Lucy what had happened, and she and Levy stayed up for several hours comforting Hermione.

"It's okay now, Hermione. You're safe - and remember, tomorrow's _Christmas_!" Levy said, trying to cheer her fellow bookworm up.

Hermione actually smiled at this. "I hope my parents haven't gone overboard with your gifts..." She murmured before falling asleep.

Levy raised her eyebrows at Lucy who shrugged her shoulders. "No idea. You don't really think they bought gifts for all of us, do you?" The blonde asked.

"Guess we'll see tomorrow. Night, Lulu," Levy said yawning.

"Night, Lev," Lucy replied, and the two followed their roommates example and fell asleep.

* * *

 **A/N - As an apology to any Ron-lovers out there, I made this chapter extra long, and I bow down, offering up this metaphorical gift. Thankfully, Hermione has her friends (and Rogue *wink wink*) to help her recover from this ordeal. Now that he's out of the picture - tomorrow's Christmas! In the fic...though I wish it was already!**

 **Reviews please, but still no flames - save them for Natsu! •^_^•**


	14. Chapter 13: Merry Christmas!

**Disclaimer: As much as I would love to, I still don't own Harry Potter or Fairy Tail.**

* * *

The next day, the girls were woken up by an excitable Natsu, who had barged into their rooms whilst they were still sleeping.

"Wake uuuuup, you guys! It's Christmaaaaas!" He yelled, and Lucy jumped straight out of bed.

"Baka!" She yelled. "Do you have no goddamn respect for our privacy?! Lucy Kick!" Her foot collided with his face, sending him flying out of the room, and the blonde slammed the door before sighing and sinking to the floor.

Hermione blinked, her sleepy brain taking longer than normal to process what had happened. "That was...scary!" She said in admiration. "Scary but amazing!"

Lucy blushed slightly. "Th-thanks, but we'd better head downstairs now."

"Yeah, the others probably sent Natsu to wake us up because he's the only one stupid enough to do so!" Levy spoke up, grinning. "I don't know how he's experienced Lucy's special kick so many times and still hasn't learnt - it happens all the time at Mahoutokoro!"

Lucy laughed. "It's his fault for barging in! Let's go, it's present time!"

Downstairs there was a huge Christmas tree, decorated in the colours of all the Hogwarts houses. When Hermione leaned in closer, she saw that some of the ornaments even had the house crests on them!

Lucy tilted her head to one side. "I swear this wasn't here last night, was it?" She asked confusedly.

"No," Hermione laughed. "It's a Christmas tradition for us that the tree goes up on Christmas Eve - I bet the servants were up for ages sorting this out! It's gorgeous!"

"Glad you think so, dear!" A voice said from behind them.

"Mum! Dad! Merry Christmas!" Hermione yelled, flinging herself at her parents.

"And to you, sweetheart. If everyone could please make their way to the first drawing room, we now open our presents!" Mr Granger announced, leading the way.

Natsu had recovered from Lucy's kick, and was actually bouncing up and down in excitement.

Lucy rolled her eyes at his antics. "God, he's such a child sometimes!" She complained, and Levy smirked.

"Yeah, but you love him anyway, Lulu!" She laughed at the blonde's violent blush and stepped casually put of reach.

When they stepped into the drawing room, Hermione gasped in shock at the sheer number of presents surrounding them.

"You didn't?!" She asked her parents in disbelief, and they nodded, grinning at her.

"Merry Christmas, everyone! What we have done may seem a tad excessive to some of you, but my husband agrees that it is only polite of us to offer you all gifts. Please accept these humble tokens in the spirit of Christmas!" Mrs Granger said, and several parcels were given out.

Everyone who currently had a present to open gasped as they did so; Hermione's parents' version of 'humble' was not exactly the same as everyone else's.

Lucy held a polished wooden box, and when she opened it almost dropped it in shock as she saw seven shiny red keys sitting in it. "The seven demon princes of Hell!" She whispered, and hugged the box like it was a long-lost friend.

Levy did the same when she opened her present - a collection of priceless ancient tomes, as did Minerva with her new warlord contract and twin swords.

One by one, as everyone opened their presents, there were tears of joy and amazement.

Erza had several new sets of armour, Juvia a book on 'how to woo your wizard without magic' and a new magical device that can control the weather, and Cana - naturally - lots of expensive liquor.

Wendy's little friend, Chelia was given loads of adorable clothes and magical hair products - like hair dyes that were charmed to come out whenever the person wearing them wanted.

Yukino was crying heavily over the scrap of paper in her hand - the address of her long lost sister, and she clutched a box of gate keys with her free hand.

Mira just stared in shock at the book on demon magic, and the contact details of another demon take-over mage.

And that was just the girls!

Elfman was crying about how 'manly' his gift was - a book on all different kinds of magical beasts and a lifetime pass to the Grangers' zoo so that he could study the beasts.

Gray was more than grateful for his gift - a wardrobe of clothes charmed to never come off unless the owner consciously wanted to remove them, as was Harry for the magical makeup to cover his scar and his parents wands - recovered from the ministry.

Jellal had two tickets for an all expenses paid trip to any destination (presumably for him and Erza), and Romeo had a scarf that was very similar to Natsu's except it seemed to change colour.

Even the exceeds got something - Happy had a huge basket of fish, Carla some exotic tea, Panther-Lily a new size changing sword, Lector some new jackets and Honeydukes chocolate and Frosch got a magical butterfly to chase.

It was after everyone else had opened their gifts that the Grangers took them all outside - where the dragon-slayers were about to have the biggest shock of their lives.

"As you all know from visiting the magical zoo, our dragons are less intelligent, less sentient than the dragons that raised you five. So we are most certainly not equipped to raise these little guys." Mr Granger gestured towards five eggs that had just been carried in by some of the zoo workers.

Natsu grinned. "Dragon eggs?! Hell yeah!"

Mr Granger nodded. "Yes, according to the experts we have had look over these eggs, they are likely laid by elemental dragons, like your adoptive parents, and all have an affinity towards certain elements that we have been reliably informed you do too. Natsu will receive the fire dragon egg, Wendy the sky dragon egg, Gajeel the iron dragon egg, Sting the light dragon egg and Rogue the shadow dragon egg. And last but certainly not least - Lisanna. We have recently discovered a new species of magical creature - a magical tiger! She is only a cub at this stage, and she will be your Christmas gift from us - don't worry, magical creatures require far less work than normal creatures, and we have already informed Headmasters Makarov and Dumbledore of their intended presence at the schools."

The dragon-slayers and Lisanna looked dumbfounded, but stepped forward and took their presents anyway.

"Th-thank you, Mr and Mrs Granger," Wendy said, the first one to regain the ability to speak. "This means more to us than we will ever be able to tell you!"

Mr Granger laughed. "Nonsense, child! This helps us as well, remember? There is no one better equipped to raise these dragons than you five - and the same goes for your tiger, Lisanna. Also - call me Dan."

"And call me Jean," Mrs Granger added, smiling.

As one, all the others spoke up. "Thanks Dan, Jean!" The said, and the Grangers laughed.

"Anyway, I think we'd better go inside and open all the other gifts. Again, Merry Christmas!" Dan said, and led everyone back inside.

"By the way, I don't suppose any of you know if there happens to be a poison dragon-slayer, do you? We had a lightning dragon egg, but we're planning on giving that to Laxus at the ball tomorrow," he said as they went inside.

Jellal grinned. "I think I can help you with that. I actually used to work weekends at the bar in a magical guild called Crime Sorciere - one of their members is a poison dragon-slayer. In fact, I believe one Mahoutokoro's professors is quite close with him - I'll lacrima call Kinana later and ask her to tell Erik."

"Thanks, lad, apparently it's better for the babies to be raised by someone who shares their element because it makes them stronger...or something like that, I don't know, to be completely honest I stopped listening after the first thirty seconds!" Dan said jovially, and everyone returned to opening their presents.

* * *

Later in the afternoon, everyone sat sprawled across the sofas, still talking about the amazing gifts. Lisanna's new cub rolled around adorably in the leftover wrapping paper as Erza played with her. Everything was very peaceful and relaxed until...

"NATSUUUU!" A female voice yelled angrily. Surprisingly enough, it wasn't Erza, or even Lucy, but rather Lisanna, who stood protectively over her cub as she rolled around in a pile of ashes - the wrapping paper she had just set fire to. "You've infected my poor baby with your pyro tendencies, baka!" She screamed, and Natsu tried to run away, only to find his path blocked by the other females, who were all smirking at him.

"I'm s-sorry, L-Lisanna! I s-swear I d-didn't do anything!" He whimpered, shying away from the angry girl.

"Did he, Enyo?" Lisanna asked the cub, who, to Natsu's absolute horror, _nodded her head_.

The take-over mage grinned sadistically. "Oh I am going to enjoy this - no one corrupts my cub!"

As he passed out from multiple blows to the head, Natsu could swear he saw the tiger laughing at him.

* * *

 **A/N - I took the name Enyo (meaning warlike) from a book called Marked by P.C and Kristin Cast - it's a great book so I'd really recommend reading it, but be prepared because there are about thirteen books in the series, not counting the novellas. Hope everyone likes the presents, I just love imagining the scene where Enyo frames Natsu, and Lisanna ends up beating him up...**

 **As always, my wonderful readers, reviews are the best Christmas present you can give...even though it's not Christmas yet...•^_^•**


	15. Chapter 14: Razalaston

**Aiiiii! So sorry about the lack of updates for the last two weeks, but I was away on camp and over the weekend my iPad *forgot* my goddamn fanfic password...as did I...so it took a while for me to set that up, especially with the procrastinating. •^_^•**

 **Disclaimer: I still hold hope that one day I will own Fairy Tail or Harry Potter (or both...) but that day isn't today**

* * *

"Aww, aren't you just the sweetest little thing!" Hermione cooed, rubbing Enyo's belly.

The cub gave her strange cry - like a cross between a purr and a chirp, and rolled over, butting her head against the brunette's hand.

Hermione obliged, petting Enyo on the head before rubbing her behind the ears.

"I see someone's popular!" Lisanna said from the doorway. "How are you, little cub?"

Enyo scrambled over to her adoptive mother, tripping over her paws as she went, and Lisanna scooped her up, giving her a cuddle.

"Yep. That is _by far_ the cutest thing I've ever seen!" Hermione stated, grinning madly.

"I know! Have you seen her lead anywhere? The cars are leaving in about twenty minutes, and I can't find it in any of the suites!" The take-over mage said anxiously.

"Yeah, we put it by the front door so you wouldn't lose again, remember?" Lisanna face palmed, and went to go find it. Hermione frowned to herself. "The...cars? Oh god, we're visiting Razalaston today!" She ran to her room to find something slightly warmer to wear, hesitating as her eyes drifted to Rogue's gift. She picked it up and carefully put it on anyway, before grabbing her bag and rushing downstairs, smiling as she remembered their little gift exchange the day before.

 _"H-hey, Rogue?" Hermione asked nervously. "Could you meet me outside in a sec? I wanted to give you your gift." The shadow dragon-slayer nodded, and went quickly ran upstairs as Hermione made her way into the gardens._

 _She sat on a bench, admiring the patterns the frost made on the surface before her attention was caught by the crunching of frozen grass as someone walked towards her._

 _"'Mione," Rogue said, smiling at her as he sat down._

 _Hermione pulled the package out of her pocket, fumbling slightly as she passed it to him._

 _"Umm, this one's for you, but I got something for Frosch as well, if you don't mind," she said, looking down at her hands._

 _"Thanks, Hermione. She'll love it," he replied, handing her his gift. "Shall we open them together?" At her nod, he began a countdown. "3...2...1..."_

 _Hermione gasped as she opened the box. "Oh, Rogue, it's beautiful!" She smiled at the sapphire necklace, and blushed slightly as Rogue lifted it and fastened it at the back of her neck, brushing her hair out of the way._

 _"I'm glad you like it, yours is amazing as well!" He withdrew a slim silver bracelet from the package he was holding. It had a dragon engraved into the surface, and the pattern was similar to the tattoo he had to commemorate Skiadrum, which he had shown Hermione not that long ago._

 _She fastened it around his wrist, and looked into his eyes, finding his face far closer than she had thought it would be._

 _"Rogue..." She whispered, her breath clouding the air._

 _"Hermione..." He replied, his voice low and husky._

 _Hermione closed the distance between them, fixing her lips on his as she closed her eyes. His mouth was cold, unmoving, but as she was about to pull away, it warmed to life and Rogue began to return her kiss in earnest..._

And that was how Lucy had found them, making out as the first snow started to fall. Mira was still squealing over the picture that the blonde had snapped, and as Hermione went downstairs, she held her hands to her cheeks in an attempt to cool them down. Unfortunately, this was as she lost her balance on the second to last step, falling towards the ground.

"That's the second time I've had to catch you in two days, 'Mione," Rogue murmured, his arms wrapped protectively round her. "That I really mind." He winked at her, and she blushed, Lucy taking the moment to snap another picture for Mira to drool over.

Dan cleared his throat, and Rogue quickly released Hermione - not wanting to attract the man's ire.

"Seeing as everyone's here, you might as well get in the cars - same groups as last time! Jean and I will join you later, have fun!" He said, and everyone made their way outside. He shot a warning look at Rogue, and nodded towards Hermione. The shadow dragon-slayer got the message and inclined his head before following the others.

"He's a nice boy, Dan. He'll take care of our Hermione - he already has!" Jean said, laying a comforting hand on her husband's shoulder.

Dan sighed. "I know, honey. It's only natural for a father to worry about his little girl, though."

* * *

"-and there's a _huge_ Christmas tree in the centre of town which is really pretty, and every year they have a competition to design a decoration to go on next years tree, and I actually won last year, so my bauble should be on there this year!" Hermione was extremely excited about the trip, and her enthusiasm was infectious, everyone else getting just as excited.

Hermione blushed as Rogue out his arm around her, but snuggled into him anyway, and Lucy took the opportunity to snap another photo.

"Damnit blondie!" Rogue growled with feigned annoyance. Lucy stuck her tongue out at him, and Natsu started laughing.

Hermione leaned into Rogue so she could whisper in his ear. "I always wondered how they worked as a couple, but I guess they're both as childish as one another!"

Rogue laughed and nodded, Lucy taking more pictures until Hermione stole her camera and started doing the same with her and Natsu.

When they reached Razalaston, everyone grouped together and headed into the town - ready for shopping and sightseeing.

"Oh wow!" Yukino breathed in wonder. "Everything's so pretty!"

The others nodded in agreement - Razalaston was a beautiful place, especially in the winger with all the decorations up, and even more so when it snowed.

Quaint cottages with a slight dusting of snow lined the pretty cobblestone streets, and the Town Square was taken up by an enormous Christmas tree - far bigger than the one in the Granger house.

Hermione ran towards it, quickly spying her decoration and pointing it out to everyone. "There! That one's mine!" She yelled happily.

"The one with the sparkly snake, badger, raven and lion on it?" Rogue asked, and she nodded.

"It's adorable, Hermione! I had no idea you were so good at art!" Yukino said, absentmindedly petting Enyo who had come up beside her.

Hermione laughed. "I'm not _that_ good - but I'm kinda sad that Hogwarts doesn't do any art classes, or even a club. I mean, I'm sure other jobs are more popular, but there must be wizard sculptures and artists - someone must paint all the portraits!"

Everyone looked towards Harry, the only other western wizard there, who shrugged his shoulders. "Don't ask me! I grew up with muggles, so I know no more than Hermione - in fact, I'd wager she knows more than me!"

Hermione heard a familiar shriek, and grinned as a figure with long red hair jumped at her. "Ginny!" She greeted happily, hugging the girl.

"Hermione! I'm so sorry about my dick of a brother! If it helps, Fred and George are going all out with their pranks on him - did you know they've started a business?! Owl order only, but still!" Ginny said, speaking so fast that Hermione could barely catch what she was saying. "Mum's been such a bitch about it all though! Insisting that her 'poor ickle Ronniekins' was innocent, and that you're - to quote her directly, 'a jealous shrew'. It's absolute bullshit!"

Hermione snorted, rolling her eyes, although Rogue could see the pain in her expression. "I'm sure that 'poor ickle Ronniekins' helped her come to that conclusion, so I don't blame her exactly, but if the woman says anything to me - your mother or not, I'm sorry Ginny but I'll have to hex her." Ginny laughed.

"I'll bloody well help you! She's been an absolute nightmare, honestly! She keeps going off on one at Fred and George for targeting their 'poor, innocent brother', and then yelling at dad because he won't back her up. Her isn't backing anyone up, actually, staying out of the mess, which is a good idea in my opinion. He told me to tell you that he knows what really happened - and he's extremely sorry. He also kindly requests that you ask Professor Snape to not send any more howlers." The girl raised her eyebrow at Hermione who laughed.

"Afraid I can't do anything about that, Gin. Sorry about your mum, though," she said, patting the younger girl on the back.

"Yeah, I-" Ginny was interrupted by a loud, extremely high pitched yell from the other side of the square.

"Ginevra Molly Weasley!" Mrs Weasley screamed. "I demand that you get away from that-that _whore_ right now!"

Ginny looked at her mother in disgust. "No! I've had it up to here with you, mother! How dare you treat Hermione like that when she was almost the victim of one of the most awful acts humanity can commit - and the perpetrator is right there!"

Molly Weasley stopped in shock, but that shock soon became fury. "No, young lady, how dare you side with that whore! You would betray your own brother for a selfish, jealous little shrew like her? That's it, Ginevra! I've had it with your insolent behaviour - as the Weasley matriarch I hereby ban you from the Weasley household!"

The woman turned and stormed off, Ron following his mother, but not before smirking at Hermione, licking his lips and looking her body up and down a few times. _'This isn't over'_ , she saw him mouth before leaving.

Rogue felt Hermione go stiff, and looked at Ron just in time to see the bastard give his pitiful threat.

"I think you guys should go look at the shops now, Ginny stick with Yukino and Minerva, I need to talk to Hermione for a second," the shadow dragon-slayer said, pulling Hermione into an empty alleyway. "Hermione. Look at me, 'Mione, listen to my voice. He can't hurt you - I won't let him. I swear, he will never even get within ten feet of you."

Hermione snapped put of her daze, smiling tenderly at Rogue. "I love you, Rogue." Her statement shocked him, and he pulled her hand to his mouth, brushing his lips against her knuckles.

"And I you, Hermione. I know this isn't the most romantic way, but...will you be my girlfriend, Hermione Granger?" He asked, smiling as she gave her answer.

"Yes," Hermione pulled him in for a kiss, and, once again, this was how Lucy found them - yet again, making out in the snow.

She disappeared, though not before hearing the few quiet words Rogue murmured to Hermione.

"I love you with all my heart, Hermione Granger." He kissed her head, and held her hand as they went back into the Town Square.

To their shock, several of their friends were still there, sat on a bench that Hermione would swear hadn't been that long before.

"Hey, guys," Hermione said, and they all looked up from what they were staring at.

"Hermione!" They yelled as one, and Ginny, Harry, Lucy and Yukino all rushed forward, tripping over each others feet.

"Idiots," Minerva sniffed, stepping over their fallen bodies. She grabbed the brunette in a hug, using the opportunity to whisper something in her ear.

Hermione laughed. "Thanks, Min, but I don't need you to beat the bastard's face in yet. Besides, you'd have to do something more creative - Rogue already beat you to that post!"

Hermione would never be able to forget what Ron had done, and tried to do, but now she had so many friends to help her through this. Especially Rogue.

As she smiled, everyone laughed, and the visit to Razalaston was back on track.

* * *

 **A/N - And Ron returns! Of course Mrs Weasley would side with her 'ickle Ronniekins' (*spoiler* I'm not a huge Molly fan - in fanfics. I loved her in the books/films), but don't worry, my Weasley bashing only extends to those two. Gred and Forge are still the wonderful pranksters they always have been, and Ginny is a little spitfire. I don't think Bill and Charlie will make an appearance...but maybe later. Woohoo! Rogue and Hermione are finally a couple. Sorry, I'm not really that great at fluff... Anyway, on with the show! I thank you all for your wonderful reviews, as does the cast of this fic •^_^•**


	16. Chapter 15: Hermione's Ball

**The next chapter, straight away to compensate for my absence •^_^•**

 **Disclaimer: Okay, soooo...I still don't own Harry Potter or Fairy Tail**

* * *

Everyone had a wonderful day, and when they met up with Hermione's parents later on, Minerva was overjoyed that Ginny would be staying with them - the two had become almost inseparable.

Later that night, Hermione worked with Ginny to get rid of some of the walls between the suites, and made one giant room for the girls to have a sleepover after the ball. "I don't know how I didn't think of this before! It's much more fun this way!" She said, and Lucy cleared her throat.

"Are you going to do the same for the boys?" The blonde asked, laughing at what chaos would be caused.

"If I did, Natsu and Gray would destroy that portion of the house in ten minutes," she said seriously, before laughing.

"I'd give them five!" Levy joined in, and Lucy nodded.

"And that's if you're lucky!" The blonde said, still laughing.

Ginny walked over to Hermione. "Hey, Hermione, would it be okay if Fred and George stayed here for a while? Mum kicked them out too after they had a go at her for sending me away, and it would only be until their business got really-"

"Of course, Gin, they - and you - can stay for as long and you all need." Hermione grabbed a piece of paper, scribbling down a quick note to the twins before handing it to Ginny. "I think they'd get along brilliantly with Natsu - if I'm not mistaken, he's only rooming with Happy, Elfman and Romeo at the minute, and they had one of the largest suites besides mine and my parents'. Hey, do you think Luna would want to stay over after the ball? Neville too, he can go in with Gray, Harry and Jellal."

Ginny grinned. "Yeah, I think so - I'll owl Nev in a minute, once Pig is done with Fred and George's. We can ask Luna when she gets here." The girl ran off to tie the note to her hyperactive owl, which was currently being chased by Enyo.

Luna soon arrived, as she, as well as the other Mahoutokoro girls not already staying over, had been invited early by Hermione so they could join them getting ready for the ball

"Well then, ladies, I do believe it is time for us to prepare for the ball!" Hermione said in a formal voice, giggling slightly, and everyone formed a long line as Lucy called Cancer out to do their hair. Then, they paired off to do makeup, and when everything else was done, they put on their dresses.

Hermione was wearing a long-sleeved, wine red velvet dress that had no embellishments, other than a simple gold ribbon tied around the waist. She was wearing a matching golden ribbon in her hair, and Ginny sighed dreamily.

"You look so pretty, Hermione! I wish I looked like you!" She said, making Hermione snort.

"No way, Gin. You're the pretty one - I could never pull of Slytherin green, and yet it looks so damn perfect on you, like everything else! Seriously, you could wear a black sack and still look gorgeous!" This was what Hermione liked about Ginny. Whilst people like Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil would be fishing for compliments if they said something like that, Hermione knew that Ginny was genuinely just that oblivious of her own good looks.

"Who's your date anyway, Ginny?" Lucy came up next to them, trying to do up the buttons on the back of her dress.

Ginny grinned and helped the blonde out. "He's, um, one of your schoolmates, actually, Lucy. I don't think you two are in the same house - sorry, guild, though. His name is Hibiki. Hibiki Lates."

Lucy squealed. "Miraaaaa!" She yelled, and the other girl came over.

"What is it? What's happening?" She said gleefully - she recognised Lucy's expression. That was the true expression of a matchmaker.

"Ginny's going to Hermione's ball with Hibiki Lates! Aaw they must make such a cute couple!" Lucy turned to the other girl. "Are you dating? I bet you are, aren't you!"

Much to Hermione's surprise, Ginny nodded. "We started hanging out a few weeks after you guys got here, and then he asked me out. We actually went to the Yule Ball together as well, but we were trying to hide from Fred and George. They were playing the 'overprotective older brothers' card."

Mira grabbed Lucy's hands, and the two started jumping around in a circle.

"It's funny how these two were the ones that told me about Minerva's demon matchmaker tendencies, and yet they're the ones jumping around because their ship has sailed," Hermione whispered to Ginny who snorted.

"Hello, Hermione," a dreamy voice said from behind them.

"Luna!" Hermione greeted warmly. After greeting the girl briefly as she arrived, Hermione hadn't had much of a chance to talk to Luna as they were both swept up in the preparations for the ball. "It's wonderful to see you - I'm so glad you could come! I suppose Ginny's already asked if you can stay?"

Luna nodded. "I sent an owl to daddy, and he was fine with it."

"That's great! We really need to catch up!" Hermione squealed, grinning as she looped an arm through Luna's. "Did you get asked to the ball by Rufus again?"

The other girl nodded, smiling dreamily. "He's such a gentleman, you know." Luna started to giggle slightly, before sighing happily. "He sent me a bouquet of roses along with the note!"

Ginny looked at the two quizzically. "Am I missing something?" She asked, confused. "I didn't think you two even liked each other!"

"Well, after Luna constantly insisting that her creatures were real, I looked in the library to see if they were in any of the books. And, surprisingly, they were! I spent a few days reading up on them, before I found this note that someone had scribbled into the margin - it said that only certain bloodlines had any record of being able to see these creatures, one being the Malfoys, another being the Lovegoods, and the final one being the Whitethorns. After that, I did some more digging, and found out that Luna's mother had been a Whitethorn before she married Xenophilius Lovegood - so it was highly likely that Luna could see the creatures," Hermione paused for breath. "Having gathered enough information, I went to find Luna to apologise for having been so horrible about it, and that's when I found her cornered by three of her Ravenclaw yearmates. After I hexed them, they ran away, and Luna told me that had been happening for a while, so I made it my mission to hunt them down one by one and, ah, instil some sense into them. When Luna found out what I'd done, we started hanging out and, yeah, that's pretty much how it happened."

Ginny was stunned. "Wow...that's just...wow. So you can really see, um, nargles and wrackspurts, Luna?"

The dreamy blonde nodded, smiling slightly. "You appear to have attracted quite a few, Ginny."

Ginny squealed and batted away invisible things around her head whilst the others laughed.

Minerva wandered over to the group, smirking. "Did I hear right? Did Rufus actually get a date?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Did you really not notice him and Luna at the Yule Ball?"

"I was...preoccupied," Minerva replied, still smirking.

Hermione suddenly started laughing, and Minerva blushed, realising how that had sounded. "Not...not like _that_ , baka!" She spluttered. "I was busy beating Sting, because he spilt punch on my dress when you walked in with Rogue!"

Hermione high fived Lucy. "I knew that would happen!" She yelled triumphantly.

There was a knock on the door. Wendy was closest, so she opened it, revealing Gray and Harry stood outside.

"Hey, girls, Hermione's parents just sent us up to tell you that the ball's going to start in about ten minutes, so you should go downstairs. Oh, and Hermione - you need to go see your parents. They're in the entrance hall," Gray said, blushing when he saw Juvia.

The girls quickly grabbed their bags and put the finished touches on their outfits. Hermione pinned the necklace Rogue had given her round her neck - somehow it matched her outfit, even though the colours should have clashed.

She rushed downstairs, and just made it to the entrance as the first guests arrived.

"Neville! And you must be Yukino's sister, Solano!" Hermione greeted, hugging the boy and kissing Solano on the cheek. "Come inside! Harry and Ginny are in the ballroom, Nev, as is Yukino." This was Yukino's final Christmas present - they had asked Solano to come to the ball, and arranged all the transportation so that they could meet.

Next was the Weasley twins and their dates - Cana and a pretty Hufflepuff called Jenny.

After this, guests began to arrive in droves until the only ones left to arrive were Jellal's twin brother, Mystogan, his fiancé Ultear, and their adoptive daughter Meredy. Hermione thought Meredy was also bringing a date, but she wasn't sure who they were.

As she saw four figures approaching, her suspicions were confirmed, but when the fourth person pulled back his hood, Hermione's jaw fell practically to the floor. Because Meredy's date was none other than Draco Malfoy.

"Malfoy?!" Hermione yelled, and he grinned - not smirked, _grinned_.

"Eloquent as always, Granger," he drawled, taking his date's cloak and handing it to Hermione.

Meredy looked apologetically at her. "I wasn't sure whether to bring him, but your parents insisted it would be fine. Sorry, Hermione."

Hermione regained her composure, standing up straight as her childhood lessons in etiquette came rushing back to her. "Nonsense, Meredy. Any friends of yours will of course be welcome here."

Malfoy did smirk this time. "Lovely to see you, Miss Granger," he purred kissing her the cheek before taking his date's hand and leading her inside.

As Mystogan and Ultear followed their daughter into the ballroom, Hermione hung the cloaks with the others and closed the doors, walking towards the ball in a daze.

Not soon after she entered, Rogue grabbed her and they started to dance, and she completely forgot about Malfoy. At least, until they saw each other again later.

"So, Malfoy, why'd you come?" Hermione asked casually, though the tension was evident in the way she held herself.

"Because Meredy invited me as her plus one," he said in his customary sarcastic drawl.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You know what I meant. You must've known it was my parents who were hosting the ball - why did you come to a muggle household?"

Malfoy sighed, slumping slightly as the light in his eyes died. "Had to spoil it, didn't you, Granger?" He muttered under his breath, making Hermione frown. "Okay, what I'm going to tell you is not to be repeated under any circumstances to Potter. The idiot can't keep a secret to save his life - you, however...you are noble enough to not tell the wrong people, and have enough of a brain that you would think before doing so. You know my father was- _is_ a Death Eater? Well, he decided to try and transfer his beliefs to me - the 'muggles are inferior, mudbloods should die' sort of beliefs. What he doesn't know is that at the same time my mother was teaching me about why not to believe him - and it is her teachings I follow. But then when I went to Hogwarts, I couldn't act like that, I had to pretend to be a complete asshole, basically, because if not, my father..." Here the boy hesitated, holding out his hand. As he stripped away the glamour on it, Hermione gasped. "Yeah, this is what he did when he found out Potter had got into the tournament and I hadn't. Undiluted bubotuber pus - he sent it in an envelope at breakfast the morning after the announcement. The burns are slow to heal, and magic doesn't do anything, so I had no choice but to put a glamour over them and pretend they aren't there. That's why-"

"That's why you were such a git to Harry the next day! _Shit_ , Malfoy! I'm so sorry!" Hermione said, the realisation washing over her like a bucketful of icy-cold water.

"Draco. You can call me Draco," he said, and Hermione smiled wanly.

"Call me Hermione, then. Who else knows about this? That you're not a racist pureblood asshole, I mean?" She asked.

"Blaise Zabini. My mother. And you now, I guess." His eyes were sad, and for the first time Hermione could understand why he always acted so cold.

"Draco..." She stumbled over the unfamiliar name. "If your father is such a bastard, why doesn't your mother leave him? Divorce does exist in the wizarding world, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, it does, but it's just not an option. If mother left father, he would go to the Wizengamot, she would be left with nothing - not even me! He is Lucius Malfoy, after all, half the bloody members of the Wizengamot, including the Minister himself, are in his pocket! Without a shadow of a doubt, if this case was taken to them - which it would be - my father would gain custody over me. My mother won't let that happen, no matter how many times I tell her to just leave me and go," Draco said, his anger evident as he talked about his father.

Hermione looked at him, thinking and calculating. "For quite some time now, I have been researching wards and the like, to protect my parents from V-Voldemort, and the house is currently under a modified Fidelius Charm - I am the secret keeper, and my parents the witnesses. I modified it so that I can partially lift it for events such as this, and lock it down if _He_ starts attacking muggles again. If you and your mother ever need to - and I mean _ever_ , you can come here."

Draco looked at her in shock. "You-you'd really do that? You'd let us stay here?"

"Yes, of course. I mean it, Draco. If he...steps over the line, don't hesitate to come here - with the charms and wards up he'll never even be able to detect that you're still in Britain." Suddenly Hermione's eyes lit up. "I'm aware that when we go back to Hogwarts you'll have to act like an asshole again, but when you have the time, go somewhere secluded and call one of the Hogwarts house elves. Tell them that Miss Hermione needs them to take you to the come and go room. I'll meet you there - I've just had a brilliant idea! Anyway, talk to you later, I have to go do something really quickly! Sorry about punching you last year!" She yelled the last part as she dashed away.

He chuckled as Meredy came back with the drinks, his eyes much brighter than before.

Meredy smiled at her 'date', he looked as if a great weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.

"Thank you, girlfriend," he said, his customary smirk returning.

"No problem, boyfriend," she replied, winking at him.

They heard a collective shout, and more than a few glasses smashing as the dragon-slayers relayed the news to everyone else.

"That's gotta suck!" Draco said to Meredy. "How does anyone keep their secrets at Mahoutokoro if those bloody lizard-slayers are always listening in!"

Meredy snorted, and raised her eyebrows at the nosy idiots. Wendy and Rogue looked away, blushing slightly at being caught, but Natsu, Gajeel and Sting just laughed, Laxus on the sidelines rolling his eyes.

Meanwhile, in the Granger library, Hermione was sorting through the magical section for a certain book.

"No, it's not this one...or that one. _Fuck_! Wait a second, is that...there it is!" She yelled, grabbing the book before she lost it again.

She carried it over to the table and started flicking through, Levy's borrowed wind-reader glasses making everything a lot easier.

"Hah! Victory!" She summoned some parchment and started making some notes on her subject of choice - magical emancipation.

* * *

 **A/N - Yeah, yeah, she has a saving people complex. Draco and Narcissa are just the next on her list... I just couldn't leave him out! I am a shallow, shallow person and I like (love) blondes, *sorrynotsorry*. Enjoy the second ball scene, and don't forget to leave a review •^_^•**


	17. Chapter 16: Freedom

**Jaysus...I'm so bad at doing regular updates...apologies...**

 **Disclaimer: No, no and no, I still do not own Harry Potter or Fairy Tail •^_^•**

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The train whistled, and everyone hurried to get on, Lisanna growling at anyone who came to close to Enyo, who was huddled close to her feet.

"Phew!" Hermione said as they got onboard, joining the others in their carriage. "That was a close one!" As if it could tell what she was saying, the train suddenly jolted and started to pull out of the station.

"Bye, mum! Bye, dad! See you soon!" Hermione yelled out the window as they pulled away.

"Bye Dan and Jean! Thanks for letting us stay!" Everyone else yelled, crowding round the windows.

Hermione grinned at Ginny. "Ready, Gin?"

The redhead smirked. "Of course!"

With that, the two began banishing the walls between compartments - similar to what they had done at the Manor. When that was done, they got rid of the benches and made several large plush couches.

As Ginny sank onto one, she sighed happily. "Aaah, this is the life!" Minerva nodded in agreement, and the two watched Enyo and Frosch play with Frosch's butterfly.

"Hang on...doesn't Frosch normally wear a pink frog outfit? Why's it blue?" Yukino said, confused.

Rogue grinned. "That would be Hermione, actually. That was her Christmas present for Frosch - the suit changes colour to whatever she wants at the time."

As they watched, the suit melted to purple, then pink, as the little exceed jumped on top of Enyo to reach the butterfly.

As the girls cooed over the duo, Rogue wandered over to where the other dragon-slayers were sat, their eggs in a circle.

"When do you think we should hatch them, then?" Sting was asking.

"Let's just do it now!" Natsu yelled, and Wendy glared at him.

"Are you an idiot, Natsu?! We're on a train right now - a train with wooden floors! Spoler alert! Fire burns. Seriously, don't be so stupid. Plus, I think we should do it with Laxus as well - or did you forget he has an egg?" The young girl said threateningly, and Natsu trembled.

"D-do you have to act like Erza, Wendy? It's _scary_!" He said, flinching away from the girl.

Wendy laughed. "Good! I've been watching how she acts, and it seems like I'm finally starting to reach her level!"

Natsu shivered at the sky dragon-slayer's obvious delight, and took his egg over to where the majority of the guys were sat.

A few hours later, everyone was back at Hogwarts, and settling back into their routines.

Hermione had seen Draco once since they got off the train, and had shot him a pointed look. _Tonight_ , she mouthed, and he nodded.

* * *

After the feast, she was pacing in her dorm, waiting for an elf to come and give her the message, and when it did, she jumped up, grabbing her notes as she raced to the Room of Requirement.

As she went through the doors, Hermione grinned at Draco, who raised an eyebrow at her.

"Why are you smiling, Hermione? It's rather disconcerting," he said, smirking slightly.

"Oh, shut up! You know what emancipation is, don't you?" She said, and he nodded.

"But-" Hermione shut him up with a glare.

"I'm not talking about normal emancipation - rather magical emancipation. There's a bunch of rules and laws and stuff about it that aren't worth explaining, so I'll just skip to the relevant bit - 'if the patriarch of a family physically abuses his offspring, his consent is not required for magical emancipation, and the matriarch can conduct the ritual instead.' See? Its perfect!" Hermione grinned at Draco's shocked expression.

"I...can be free of him? Mother too?" He asked unsurely.

"Yes! If you and your mother perform the emancipation ritual, then she leaves him, he can't do anything to you. If you want, you can go a step further, and do the Blood Disowning as well, you will no longer be your father's lawful _or_ biological son," Hermione said, and Draco's head shot up.

"How soon can I do this?" Was his only response.

Hermione shrugged. "As soon as you want. You could even do it now, if you wanted!"

"Can I? Actually do it now? I don't want my mother near that bastard for a moment longer than she has to be," Draco asked, and Hermione nodded.

"Ally!" She called, and a house elf appeared.

"What can Ally be doing for Missy Hermy?" She asked.

Hermione smiled at the elf. "I need you to go and collect Narcissa Malfoy and apparate her here - to this room, without anyone seeing."

The elf nodded and disappeared with a pop.

A few minutes later, she reappeared with Draco's mother, the woman looked rather disheveled.

"Draco, darling, what is going on?" Narcissa asked, yawning delicately.

Draco ran forward and embraced his mother. "Mother, this brilliant girl is Hermione Granger, and she's found a way for us to be free from father - forever!"

Hermione blushed, her eyes going wide as Narcissa hugged her. "This-this is...Oh, thank you, dear! This means more to me than you can ever know!" She cried.

Hermione smiled as she extricated herself from the woman. She explained what she had found, and briefed them on how to perform the ritual. "Okay, Mrs Malfoy, according to what I've read the ritual is pretty simple. You just have to read out these words, and magic will do the rest." She handed a card to the older woman.

Narcissa cleared her throat, before beginning to speak.

" _I am the Mother, and in my right of blood I set free Draco Lucius Malfoy from the bonds of childhood. The Father has betrayed his offspring, and forgoes the role of patriarch. May magic judge my plea and grant it_." As she finished, a silvery light engulfed Draco, and when it cleared, he was unharmed.

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. "That's a sign that it's worked. If it hadn't, Draco would be injured, or even dead. Do you want to do the Blood Disowning as well now?" Draco nodded, gripping his mother's hand. "Alright, this one will be a little bit different." She summoned a bowl and knife, and lay them on a table that had appeared. "First of all, Draco will need to slice his palm and let the blood drip into the basin. The he will need to chant these words." She handed him a card. "After he has done that, that's where you come in, Mrs Malfoy. You'll need to add your blood to the bowl, and then Draco will need to drink from it, to finish the ritual."

Draco sucked in a sharp breath as he drew the knife across his palm, watching the blood drip into the bowl. " _I am Draco, son of Narcissa Malfoy née Black and Lucius Malfoy. Magic hear my plea; I disown my father for crimes most heinous, and cleanse my blood of his taint_." The blood in the bowl glowed slightly before the glow faded, and Narcissa added her blood. Draco drank from the bowl, and Hermione watched in awe as his features began to change.

The shape of his face softened, becoming rounder, and his hair darkened a few shades until it matched his mother's ashy blonde. A few freckles appeared across the bridge of his nose, and even his skin changed, gaining a slight golden tinge. His eyelashes changed as well, becoming as dark as his mothers, and he shrank about an inch before the changes stopped.

"Wow..." He said, studying his hands, and staring at the mirror that had just appeared. "Mother..." He turned to Narcissa, and she gathered him in her arms.

"Oh, Draco! You're free!" She cried, holding him close.

"As you will be, mother," he whispered, silently thanking Hermione with his eyes.

When he was released, Narcissa turned to Hermione and thanked her profusely. "This is more than I had ever hoped for, Hermione, dear! Not only is Draco free, but I will soon be as well! From the bottom of my heart, I thank you, Hermione Granger."

Hermione grinned. "Don't worry, Mrs Malfoy. It was nothing. Ally! Take Mrs Malfoy to the Ministry of Magic - Sub-Department of Marriage and Divorce. Then, when she's done there, take her to my parents."

"Hermione, no matter what you say I will always be in you debt. And please, call me Narcissa," she said before being whisked away by Ally.

Once Narcissa was gone, Hermione turned to Draco, and was practically tackled by him. "You...Hermione... _thank you_ ," he said gratefully.

Hermione caught sight of his hands, and saw the burns on them, still as bad as they had been at the ball. "Draco, why haven't you been to see Severus about these? He _is_ your head of house after all."

Draco snatched his hands away. "He knows father. I didn't want word getting back to him, and-wait a second, did you call him _Severus_?"

"Obviously," Hermione drawled, imitating their potions professor. "He tutors me in potions. I think he's trying to groom me for a Mastery. C'mon, we'll go down there now."

If anyone had seen them, they would have been extremely confused. Why was Hermione Granger walking down to the dungeons with a boy that looked a bit like Draco Malfoy - his cousin, perhaps? So it was a good thing that they made it all the way to Severus' office without meeting anyone else.

"Enter," the cranky potions master called after Hermione knocked.

"Hermione!" He greeted, far more warmly than Draco would've imagined. "And who is your companion. He looks a bit like-"

"Like Draco Malfoy? That's probably because he _is_ Draco," Hermione said, and Severus' eyes grew wide with shock.

"Did you...not _that_ ritual, Hermione?!" He said, realisation dawning on him. "You...you...absolute _genius_! I wish I'd thought of it before now!"

Draco frowned at his godfather. "You knew about fath-Lucius?"

Severus nodded sadly. "I'm sorry, Draco. I only had my suspicions, and there was nothing I could do."

The young boy tensed up, but took a deep breath and relaxed. "It's okay. Everything worked out in the end."

Severus saw his hands and the burns on them. "Draco! Those burns...how _could_ he?!" He yelled, grabbing a vial of greenish paste, slathering it over his godson's hands.

"Fuck that bastard!" Hermione could hear him muttering as he searched for some bandages. "You need to keep these on for the next three hours. After that, take them off and wash the paste away."

"Thank you, Professor," Draco said as they left the office. Severus didn't look up from the piece of paper he was furiously scribbling on, and just waved with his free hand.

"Hermione..." Draco trailed off as they stood outside the Slytherin dorms.

"Draco Malfoy! If you thank me one more time, I swear to god I will set Enyo on you! And then tell Lisanna you kidnapped her cub, and set _her_ on you!" Hermione yelled, making Draco grin.

"I wouldn't dream of it!" He exclaimed with mock indignation. "Also, it's Draco Black now. Draco Malfoy is gone. Thank god." With that, Draco winked at her and walked into the dorms.

Hermione rolled her eyes, and started the long trek back up to Gryffindor tower.

* * *

 **A/N - This part of the story came out kind of...clunky, but Draco and Narcissa are soon to be completely freeeeee from ol' Lucy *yay* and Wendy is copying Erza...Natsu should probably start running right about now...**

 **Ah, how I love a sweet review! Nothing better, except maybe chocolate...•^_^•**


	18. Chapter 17: Second Task

**Again, two chapters in a row because I am absolutely AWFUL at updating regularly...**

 **Disclaimer: Yeah, I own the rights to neither Harry Potter nor Fairy Tail •^_^•**

* * *

"Welcome, one and all to the Second Task of the 1994 Triwizard Tournament!" Lugo Bagman announced, and the crowd began cheering wildly.

"Hey, Harry, have you seen Hermione? I asked Lucy, but Yukino's missing as well, and she can't find either of them," Rogue asked, worry clouding his voice.

Harry shook his head, and opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Bagman.

"For this task, each team will have to retrieve that which they hold dear from the depths of the Black Lake. When the whistle sounds, the first champion from each team will have to dive in and locate their person, before bringing them back to the surface. Only when both their head and the head of their person breaks the surface can the other champion dive in and rescue their special someone!"

Erza rushed over to Rogue, whose expression was filled with horror. "They've taken Jellal and Hermione. I checked - no one's seen them since late last night. Rogue, you should go first, I think the whistle is going to go off soon."

The shadow dragon-slayer's face turned stony with anger and determination as he walked to the edge of the lake. Shadows were rippling off him as his anger activated dragon force, and Sting cheered from the stands.

"C'mon Rogue! You got this! Do it for Hermione!" The blonde slayer yelled, and the others joined in - even Draco, who was waving a Mahoutokoro flag with one hand and a Hogwarts one with the other.

"Get ready, champions! You have exactly one hour, starting from now!" Bagman blew the whistle, and they were off, Viktor morphing into a half-shark-half-man creature, Harry using the bubble-head charm Cedric had taught him, and Rogue just shooting into the water.

Scarcely five minutes later, Rogue jumped out of the lake with Hermione in his arms, and Erza dove in, requipping into her Neptune armour.

The shadow dragon-slayer wouldn't let anyone near his girlfriend, except for Wendy, and it was only when the little girl reported that she was fine that Rogue let the dragon force wear off. Even then, he growled when anyone got too close until Makarov told him to take Hermione back to the castle.

About halfway there, Hermione awoke to the sensation of being carried.

"Rogue..." She murmured, and he stopped and looked at her, searching her face for any hint of pain or discomfort.

"You're really okay!" He said, burying his face in her hair and inhaling the comfort scent of cinnamon.

"You can put me down now." He complied, and she turned to look at him. "Of course I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" She asked, confused about how relieved he seemed.

Rogue looked at her quizzically. "Hermione...we just had the second task, and each champion had to rescue someone special to them from the lake. You were my hostage."

"God, I remember now! Dumbledore called me up to his office, and then he put all of us to sleep! Do you know if Jellal's okay? And Yukino and Cho? Oh god, and Alyksander and Mila - that's Viktor and Petya's younger brother and sister! They're only about five - it's disgusting that the organisers would use children that young in their ridiculous tasks!" Hermione was extremely angry - and for good reason!

Rogue agreed with her about the Durmstrang champion's younger siblings. What if they got hurt?

"Wait, why are we going into the castle, Rogue?" Hermione asked, and Rogue blushed.

"Well, um, when you came out of the lake, you were still unconscious, and I kind of overreacted a bit," he laughed nervously.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. "When you say a bit...?"

"I was, ah, growling at anyone who got too close. Must have been my dragon instincts...acting...up..." His eyes suddenly went wide, as if he had realised something. "I need to go...do...something...I'll be back in a minute, 'Mione!" He ran off in the direction of the lake.

"Rogue, wait!" She yelled, but he kept running.

Hermione huffed and followed him, but at a slower pace. "Stupid lizard-slayers," she grumbled, using Draco's favourite insult.

On the way back, she ran into the twins, Alyksander and Mila. They were alone, and Alyksander was comforting his sister as she cried - they were both still damp, and shivering in the cold February air.

"Alyksander! Mila! What on earth are you two doing, you must be freezing!" Hermione took her cloak off and wrapped it around the twins, and Mila threw her arms around the older girl's neck.

"Hermyknee!" She sobbed, and Hermione gave her a hug, casting some warming charms over the girl and her brother. "Headmaster Karkaroff sent us back to castle, but I cold and Alyks cold too, and we still wet and don't know the way!" The young girl cried, stumbling slightly over the english.

Hermione was still impressed - according to Petya, their mother was from Britain, and the kids had grown up learning both english and bulgarian.

"Dont worry, Mila. Alyks, come here too, you must be freezing!" The brunette said, and the young boy stumbled forward.

Hermione dried both their clothes off, and transfigured her cloak into two smaller ones for them. Then she called Ally out, and sent the little elf to get some hot chocolate from the kitchens. When the kids were warm and dry, the sleeping potion Hermione had got the elf to slip in their drinks began to kick in, and the twins drifted off to sleep.

Hermione picked them both up, carrying the children back to the lake where she gave Karkaroff a death glare.

She walked over to the champions tent and lay the twins down on a couch she found in there, tucking a blanket over them. Only when they were comfortable did she go back outside to give the Durmstrang headmaster a piece of her mind.

"Igor Karkaroff!" She yelled, for once not caring that she was undermining a teacher. "How dare you send those poor children back up to the castle when they don't even know the way! You didn't even bother to dry them off properly - they were sat there in the cold, crying when I found them!" She whipped her wand out, and pointed it at the man, who was actually looking quite scared of her. "You foul, loathsome excuse for a human being! I bet you didn't even ask the permission of their parents for this, did you?! I assure you, they will be finding out from me, and I hope you are prepared to defend your actions, because if not you might be finding yourself out of a job!"

It seemed ridiculous to some of the other Durmstrang student that their headmaster was scared of a fourteen year old girl, but they didn't know what Igor Karkaroff knew about Hermione Granger - the girl who mastered every single jinx and hex they had been taught in class, the girl whose ability in potions was improving by the day, the girl who was quickly gaining the entire wizarding world's attention as the brightest witch of her age. Watching her now, Karkaroff couldn't help but fear Hermione Granger, especially with her wand aimed at his throat and the threat of ruining his reputation out in the open. He doubted the girl even knew just how much the public respected her, and how much political power she could wield. She truly _could_ get him fired.

Then she sneered at him, and lowered her wand. "But you're not worth the effort." She began to walk away. "Although, Mila and Alyksander's parents will be hearing about it from me."

At the mention of their siblings names, Viktor and Petya jumped.

"You were talking about our brother and sister?" Viktor said, looking rather worried.

Hermione nodded, and waved for the two to follow her into the tent.

"See? They're okay now, I got Ally to slip a bit of sleeping potion into the hot chocolate she brought them, and they're warm and dry, don't worry," she said, smiling as she absentmindedly touched Mila lightly on the forehead.

"Thank you, Hermyninny!" Petya exclaimed as quietly as he could, wrapping her in a hug. He jumped back when he heard a growl from the entrance, laughing as he saw the source.

"Stand down, Dragon. We aren't trying to steal her from you!" He said, smiling.

Rogue grinned sheepishly, moving to stand beside Hermione who subconsciously leaned into his touch.

Viktor, as stoic as his brother was exuberant, pressed a light kiss to each of the twins heads, smiling as he looked down on them.

"As my brother has already said, thank you, Hermy-knee. The twins are precious to us - especially since last year, when Alyksander had an encounter with a dragon and Mila tried to save him." He pulled his sister's sleeve up, and Hermione gasped as she saw the scar. "It ripped her arm right off, but luckily the healers were able to reattach it."

"Oh god..." She whispered, and Viktor nodded. "So, I'm guessing your parents probably _didn't_ give their permission for the headmaster to use the twins as hostages then?"

Viktor scowled. "No. I wondered why the bastard was so insistent on Mila and Alyks coming to watch us. When our mother and father said that they wouldn't arrive until later, he was so anxious until they told him they would be here in time for the second task. I guess now we know why."

Hermione frowned. "Men like him shouldn't be in charge of schools." Petya nodded his agreement. "Are the twins staying here for the rest of the tournament?"

"I think so. Even with Karkaroff being an asshole, I don't think our parents will make them return home - they've been looking forward to the trip for months now. Besides, I think they've grown rather fond of you already!" Petya grinned, and Hermione looked down, seeing that Alyks had attached himself to her sleeve.

"My-nee," he whispered, and Hermione's heart melted - really, the twins were even cuter than Enyo, and that was saying something.

Rogue smiled at her. _She's good with the Younglings. She will make a wonderful mate for us_ , a voice hissed inside Rogue's head, and he blushed. _Younglings?_ He thought. _Where did that come from?_

He was shaken out of his thoughts by Hermione grabbing his hand.

"C'mon," she said. "We should probably go and see the others. Besides, I wanna talk to Yukino."

She led him out of the tent, and they walked over to where a small crowd of colourfully dressed students had formed.

"Yuki!" Hermione yelled, spotting her friend. As Yukino turned and waved, the brunette spotted a familiar girl sat alone in the stands. As she squinted, Hermione realised it was Solano. "Hey, Yukino, your sister's sat over there." She pointed to the lonely girl, and Yukino sprinted over to her, throwing her arms around the unsuspecting girl.

"They really are adorable," Hermione sighed, smiling at the sisters. "Ack!" She was tackled by Enyo, who had crept up behind her and pounced. "Jesus, cat, what is Lisanna feeding you?!" She was already about four times her original size, and it had only been two months.

"Enyooooo! Don't sit on Hermione like that! Off, now, you bad girl!" Lisanna yelled, running towards them.

Enyo perked up at the sound of her mother's voice, and decided this would be the perfect moment to play. She sprinted off into the crowd, leaving Lisanna to chase after her, huffing at her cub's antics.

Hermione giggled as Rogue pulled her to her feet.

"Hermione!" They heard another voice yell, and Narcissa Malfoy ran towards them, clutching a bunch of papers in her hand. "The divorce is over - as of today, I'm officially Narcissa Black once again!"

Hermione embraced the older woman, who had become almost like an aunt to her in the last month and a half. "I'm so happy for you, Cissy!"

At the sound of her nickname, Narcissa's expression grew sad. "There's something else, though...something Lucius confessed to me after the final verdict. In the trial, they used Veritaserum, so that they can ensure you aren't being Imperiused or something like that, but the questions asked only have to be answered if they relate to the case - an invention of Sev's I think. They forgot to give him the antidote, and afterwards, I asked him how he got my father to agree to let him marry me in the first place - originally he was so against it, but I always figured that Lucius managed to win him round or the temptation of the Malfoy fortune swayed him. It actually turns out that the absolute _bastard_ used the Insanity curse on my sister, Bella, and convinced my father to arrange a marriage between us because it would save the family's reputation." A single tear slipped down the woman's cheek. "So Bella's in Azkaban for something that wasn't her fault, trapped inside her own mind, while the man who caused it all walks free."

Hermione's expression was suddenly filled with a fierce determination, and Rogue groaned. "Be careful with your insane schemes, okay love? I have to go talk to Sting a sec." He kissed her on the cheek and ran over to his brother.

* * *

 **A/N - Bwahaha, _cliffhanger_! Don't worry, Hermione's insane scheme is perfectly safe. Ish. Anywayyyy - what do think of the twins? They are the most adorable characters in the whole fic, except maybe Enyo, but even then...gah! I don't know!**

 **Mila would really love it if you reviewed this fic, so she can make another appearance later on...•^_^•**


	19. Chapter 18: Saviour Hermione

**Halloooooooo again! I know I always say it, but I swear one day, I'll actually update REGULARLY! Well, hopefully anyway.**

 **Anywayyyy...**

 **Disclaimer: For the ninteenth time in this story, I still don't own Harry Potter or Fairy Tail...**

* * *

Hermione turned back to Narcissa. "I know exactly what we're going to do. We're doing this Gryffindor style." She grinned. "All we need is your memory of the encounter with Lucius, and we have a trial - no matter how much the Minister tries to stop it.

"This whole thing needs to be very public, so that if he interferes it will seem very suspicious. Also, if we take it directly to Madame Bones, she can arrange the whole thing for us. I don't know if Draco has told you, but I have recently become a favourite of a certain potions master, who is very much so able to brew a batch of Veritaserum for us. Then, all we need to do is spell it into his stomach at the trial, and voila! It's foolproof - even if old Lucy takes the antidotes, Severus brew the potion to his own recipe - a recipe that has no antidote! And it won't wear off until well after the trial"

Narcissa was speechless. "You...Merlin's beard, Hermione, you truly are the brightest witch of your age!"

"Why thank you, Cissy, now if you'll excuse me I have a plan to prepare." Armed with Narcissa's memory, Hermione made her way to Severus' office, where she told him what was happening, and he gave her several vials of Veritaserum, in case one broke.

Gryffindor style she promised, Gryffindor style she delivered - after getting Ally to bring Madame Bones to her, and she revealed Lucius Malfoy's wrongdoing in front of the entirety of Hogwarts, plus the visiting students, teachers and the reporters. Madame Bones took the memory away for examination, and in no time at all, a trial had been scheduled for the following day - wrongful imprisonment in Azkaban was a _very_ big deal to the Wizengamot.

And this was how, less than twenty four hourse later, Hermione found herself in a courtroom with numerous adult wizards, Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Black.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the Wizengamot, we are here today to rule on Lucius Malfoy's role in the wrongful imprisonment of Bellatrix Lestrange née Black. Alleged charges include but may not be limited to use of the illegal Insanity curse and the obstruction of justice. Will the defendant please approach the podium," Madame Bones declared, and Lucius approached the podium, his head held high.

"Mr Malfoy, will you submit to questioning by Veritaserum, as requested by Miss Hermione Granger?" Madame Bones asked, and Lucius smirked. He had been prepared for this.

"As the head of a Noble and Most Ancient House, I outrank Miss Granger, and so, it is within my rights to deny her request," he said, his smug expression directed towards Hermione who shot him a smirk of her own before standing.

"I'm afraid that Mr Malfoy is incorrect. Whilst the House of Malfoy is a Noble and Most Ancient House in France, it has never actually been officially given that status in Britain. If you were to search the records, you would find that it is only a Noble House. The House of Dagworth-Granger, however is a Noble and Most Ancient House - and I happen to be the sole magical heir. So even if I am only an heir, I still outrank Mr Malfoy." Hermione enjoyed the chaos that erupted after her statement- particularly the way Lucius paled dramatically, looking rather faint. It appeared that he had not been prepared for _this_ development!

"Silence!" Madame Bones roared, and the crowd shut up. "Shacklebolt, please administer the Veritaserum." She directed the command at one of the aurors who had moved to stand around Mr Malfoy after Hermione's shocking revelation.

The Veritaserum - Severus' own special recipe of course - was administered, and Madame Bones began with the necessary questions.

"State your full name and date of birth for the Wizengamot," she asked, watching the man intently.

"Lucius Abraxas Malfoy, I was born on the sixteenth of June, in the year 1960."

Madame Bones smiled as she began to read the questions. "Did you cast the Insanity curse on Bellatrix Lestrange, then Black?"

Lucius looked like he was trying not to answer, but he couldn't win over the Veritaserum. "Yes."

This sent the courtroom into another frenzy.

It was during this chaos that someone in the crowd shouted out something that would eventually lead to the downfall of the Dark Lord Voldemort.

"Hey, Malfoy! Were you ever under the Imperious curse or was that just another lie?!" Yelled Auror Dawlish, a small portly muggleborn and long time friend of Daniel Granger.

"That was a lie. I am and always have been a loyal Death Eater." His reply silenced the crowd far more effectively than Madame Bones ever could have.

Lucius' eyes grew wide with horror as he realised what he had just admitted.

"Don't just stand there then, Shacklebolt! Get him!" Madame Bones yelled, and before he could react, Lucius Malfoy was locked up in a lair of magic cancelling shackles, being taken to Azkaban to await further questioning.

It took a while, but Madame Bones calmed the Wizengamot down once again. "We will now discuss the matter of Bellatrix Lestrange née Black. Dawlish, if you would please cancel the Insanity curse."

The man changed a long, complicated Latin incantation, and when the brief flash of light disappeared, everyone was shocked by Bellatrix's change in appearance. Her hair, previously frizzy and out of control now fell sleekly down her back like a glossy waterfall, and her wide crazed eyes were almond-shaped, framed with dark lashes.

"Cissy?" She asked in a melodious voice, so unlike the crazed screech it had been before. "Why do you look so old?"

Hermione Granger stood and approached the now clear-minded Bellatrix.

"Bellatrix, we know you haven't done anything wrong, but we need you to answer a few questions about Lucius Malfoy. Will you consent to take some Veritaserum?" She asked, noticing how the woman sneered as she heard Lucius' name.

"Of course, if it will help you put that scumbag behind bars, where he belongs!" She said, opening her mouth for Auror Shacklebolt to give her the Veritaserum.

"If you could please tell us your name, dear, and what year it is," Madame Bones said, smiling at the nervous Bellatrix.

"I am Bellatrix Drusilla Black, and it is the year 1975."

Her statement caused mutterings amongst the crowd, and Madame Bones asked a few more questions, to perpetuate the charade of trial for the unlucky woman.

"Bellatrix, this is going to be hard for you to believe - incredibly so, but it needs to be done. It is not the year 1975, but rather 1995. You spent just over a decade in Azkaban for supporting the Dark Lord, as Lucius Malfoy cast the Insanity curse on you in 1975. You were married to Rodolphus Lestrange five years after that, so your name is legally Bellatrix Lestrange, not Black," Hermione spoke up, conjuring a mirror for the other woman to look into.

Bellatrix covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a cry as she saw not the fifteen year old she was expecting, but rather a woman in her mid thirties, covered in filth and dressed in a hideous Azkaban uniform.

"Oh god!" She sobbed. "I-I'm starting to remember it! Bits and pieces...no, NO! Don't do it!" She screamed, obviously trapped in a vision of the past. Madame Bones banished the shackles holding the sobbing woman in place, and Narcissa ran to comfort her sister.

"It'll be okay, Bella. I'm here, you have me," she said, stroking her sister's hair to try and calm her down.

"Ciss-y," Bellatrix whispered before passing out.

Hermione came forward, crouching next to the sisters. "Take her back to the Manor, mum'll be more than happy to help you. I'm afraid the Fidelius charm is going to be activated after this, so if you need anything - and I mean anything, Cissy, call for Ally, she'll bring the message to me. I have to get back to Hogwarts, but I'll come visit as soon as I can. I'll bring Draco as well." She hugged the conscious sister before heading towards the fireplace to floo back to Hogwarts.

"You're going to love Hermione, Bella. She's the sweetest girl I've ever met - It's almost a shame that she and Draco are already in relationships! Just never tell him that, I adore Meredy too, and she suits him far better," Narcissa whispered, apparating herself and her sister to the place she had come to think of as home.

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 **A/N - What do you guys think? Bellatrix is honestly one of my favourite characters, so I couldn't just leave her in Azkaban - the Black sisters _will_ be reunited! I don't actually know Lucius' birthday, so I'm guessing that he must have been about twenty when Draco was born, and since he was born in the same year as Harry (1980) I'm guessing Lucius was roughly born in 1960. As for the Black sisters, I'm guessing as well, and to suit the storyline, Bella was born in the same year as Lucius, and Narcissa is a year younger. Andromeda would be a bit older than both of them. We'll find out the results from the second task in the next few chapters, as Hermione never bothered to ask anyone because she was too busy rescuing Bella from Azkaban (and they say Harry has a saving people complex...)**

 **Review please, my loyal subjects! I mean, readers, aha, •^_^•**


	20. Chapter 19: Baby Dragons

**Just a little filler/bonus chapter of sorts with not much relevance to the story, but some cute twin fluff - and the dragons finally hatch!**

 **Disclaimer: Nope. Still don't own the rights to the masterpieces otherwise known as Harry Potter and Fairy Tail.**

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"What am I supposed to do, Sting?" Rogue hissed to his brother.

"Pfff, beats me. Maybe you should just tell her she's your mate - that would make everything easier." The blonde dragon-slayer stretched his arms over his head, yawning.

"We're fifteen. How the hell can I just tell her that she is what normal people would call my _soulmate_ , baka!" Rogue hissed, before groaning and falling backwards onto the sofa. "I give up. At this rate I'll have to ask," he paused and shuddered, "Mira."

Sting laughed, poking his brother until he opened his eyes again. "Seriously, little bro, just tell her! The longer you keep it from her, the more pissed off she'll be when she finds out."

"I know, I know, but I just don't know how to tell her! I mean, what do I do? Just walk up to her and go 'hey, I know we've only known each other for a few months, but you're my mate, and for dragon-slayers that basically means we're meant for each other, so want to stay with me for the rest of your life'?" Rogue said sarcastically.

"Yeah, that could work," Sting said, completely missing the sarcasm.

Rogue huffed, rolling over so his face was buried in the pillow. "I just can't, okay?"

Suddenly, he bolted up like Laxus had just zapped him in the ass. "Did you feel that?" He asked his brother, who nodded.

"That was the magic circle on the eggs breaking - they're about to hatch!" Sting said excitedly. Natsu ducked his head through the doorway.

"C'mon, guys! Wendy sent me to get you two - it's time!" He grinned, and the three of them ran as fast as they could to the Room of Requirement.

Seeing that the door was already open, they walked in, immediately spying their eggs in amongst a crowd of Mahoutokoro students and teachers.

They were shaking, some of the shell cracking off, and Rogue suddenly felt a sharp shot of pride go through him as he watched Hermione use the basic shadow dragon-slayer magic he had taught her to incubate the egg. She looked up as though she could sense his presence, and nodded her head towards the egg. He understood what she meant, and hurried over to help it with his own magic.

Theirs was the first to hatch, probably because there were two of them working on it, and the hatchling was adorable. Rogue instinctively knew that she was a female, it was part of being a dragon-slayer, and reached forward to pet her head.

"Skiadrum..." He whispered, before clearing his throat. "Her name will be Skiadrum."

After his adoptive mother, Hermione realised. She nodded, smiling at him before petting the hatchling herself. The scales weren't rough as she thought, but rather silky and soft - kind of like Rogue's shadows.

Little Skiadrum wriggled around a bit, and finally stood, walking unsteadily over to Rogue before plopping herself on his lap.

"Can we touch her?" A hesitant voice said, and Rogue looked up to see Mila and Alyksander. He nodded, and Mila, the braver of the two, put her hand out a gently stroked Skiadrum's head.

"She is beautiful. Not like the one who did this," Mila gestured towards her arm, and Alyksander grabbed his sister's free hand.

Then, the other dragons started to hatch, and everyone watched on in awe as the hatchlings dragged themselves over to their respective parents. All of the dragon-raised slayers named their dragons after their adoptive parents, except for Gajeel whose dragon was female. He named her Shrimp, which made Levy blush as Lucy nudged her, winking.

Laxus and Erik, who Jellal had asked to visit, named their dragons as well. Laxus called his Bolt - very original - whilst Erik named his after Kinana. Mira giggled at this, and told everyone that if she was here, the shy professor would be blushing madly right now.

Evreryone spent the rest of the day in the Room of Requirement, later joined by Viktor, Petya, Ginny, Luna, Draco and the Weasley twins. The Durmstrang boys had become good friends with Draco and Blaise, another Slytherin, and possibly the only other one in whole house besides Draco who wasn't a racist asshole.

It was about ten minutes to curfew when everyone realised they should be in their dorms, and quickly ran so they would make it in time. Hermione kissed Skiadrum on the head before Rogue took her back to Ravenclaw tower, and then gave her boyfriend a goodnight kiss as well. It was only thanks to the Weasley twins that they made it back on time - being the pranksters they were, they knew a ton of secret passages, and it was one of these that they took to get back to the portrait before the Fat Lady went to sleep.

"Thank god!" Harry panted. "I didn't think we'd make it!"

Hermione shushed him as she shifted the child in her arms - little Mila had been sorted into Gryffindor, while her twin was in Ravenclaw. "Don't wake her up, idiot!" She whispered, and carried the little girl upstairs. At Viktor and Petya's request, Headmaster Dumbledore had put her in the same dorm as Hermione, and Mila often climbed into Hermione's bed, snuggling up to the girl she had come to think of as an older sister. Hermione sighed and laid her down, quickly changing and climbing into bed.

It only took about five minutes for Mila to climb out of her own bed and into Hermione's, and the brunette rolled her eyes, pulling back the covers for her 'little sister' to climb in.

"You're the best, big sis," she heard Mila mumble before going back to sleep, and she couldn't help but smile - as an only child, she'd always wanted a little sister.

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 **A/N - Another bonus chapter of sorts - the eggs have finally hatched and Erik made his cameo appearance. I'm sure that Enyo will be good friends with all the dragons - especially Igneel junior! Maybe they can run/fly around, setting fire to stuff while Lisanna chases Natsu, because if there's fire involved, it's _obviously_ his fault! Mila and Alyksander are the cutest, don't you think? •_•**

 **Don't forget to review, you wonderful readers! •^_^•**


	21. Chapter 20: Barty Crouch

**I think I'm (finally) starting to get the hang of this 'regular updates' thing now!**

 **Disclaimer: I'm starting to give up hope that it'll ever happen, because (as always) I still don't own Harry Potter or Fairy Tail.**

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"Hey, Erza?" Hermione said, catching the redhead's attention. "Who actually won the second task?"

Erza paused, a forkful of cake halfway to her mouth. "Oh yeah, you wouldn't know. We did, of course! After Rogue brought you up, it only took about thirty minutes for me to find Jellal and rescue him. The Hogwarts team took a bit longer, and they finished outside the time limit, but still rescued both their champions, so they came second. And Durmstrang came last - they only rescued one of their champions, and Petya returned outside the time limit."

Hermione grinned. "Hell yeah!" She said, and Lucy laughed.

"Are you forgetting that you're a Hogwarts student, 'Mione?" She said, and the brunette froze.

"I am, aren't I...damnit! Ah, but I have a guild mark as well, remember? Tigers for the win!" She pointed at her mark, and Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Obviously Erza's going to win in the individual category! She's the most powerful girl in all of Mahoutokoro!" The blonde said, grinning.

Hermione smirked. "Weeeeell, if the goblet chose Erza because she's the strongest female wizard, wouldn't that make Rogue the strongest male? And anyway, the individual winner isn't decided by strength! I do hope Rogue wins, though."

Harry walked over, catching the last comment. "You wound me - truly!" He said dramatically, holding a hand over his heart.

"Ah, don't worry, Harry! I still want you and Cedric to win as a team, after all, I may be a Sabertooth member, but I'm also a proud Hogwarts student!" She pointed to the crest on her robes and grinned at her friend.

The group was distracted from their conversation when they heard a loud thud, followed by a strangled cry, and turned to see Enyo sat on top of Draco's friend, Blaise.

The tiger couldn't really be called a cub anymore - she'd grown so much that her head now reached halfway up Lisanna's arm, and when she stood on her hind kegs, she was the same height as Hagrid.

"Enyo! Bad girl!" Lisanna shouted, pulling her tiger off of Blaise. "Sorry about that!" She said sheepishly, helping him up. "I don't think we've met yet - my name's Lisanna."

Blaise kissed her hand, making her blush. "I am Blaise Zabini, a friend of Draco's."

Draco rolled his eyes at his friend's flirty nature. "Yeah, this is Blaise. Thought I might as well introduce him to you, seeing as I hadn't already." The blonde Slytherin suddenly tensed. "She's here..." He whispered, looking around nervously.

Suddenly, Shrimp flew out from under the table, tackling him. Draco rolled as he hit the floor, pinning the squirming youngling to the floor. "Aha, I've got you now!" He yelled triumphantly.

Shrimp just looked him in the eyes, and Draco would later swear she was smirking at him, as she breathed a small whirlwind of metal shards directly into his face.

"Ahhhhhh!" He screamed, jumping backwards to get away from it, and the dragon took the opportunity to jump on top of him, chirping her victory.

"Gihihi!" They heard a distinctive laugh and turned to see Gajeel and Levy walking towards them. "Shrimp still beating yah, Ferret?" He asked, smirking at the fallen Slytherin.

Levy rolled her eyes and picked the dragon up. "You really shouldn't encourage her, Gajeel!" She scolded him, though she was smiling widely.

"I swear you've bloody trained her to attack me!" Draco grumbled, brushing small pieces of iron off his robes as he stood up. He glared at the iron dragon-slayer, and his adoptive offspring before spying Meredy and walking off to join her.

"Jeez, he's such a drama queen sometimes!" Hermione sighed.

Lucy laughed. "Wouldn't you be if you were constantly being tackled by a dragon?" She asked, and Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"I _am_ constantly being tackled by a dragon!" She replied, and as if this summoned her, Skiadrum flew out of the nearest shadow and curled her body around Hermione's shoulders like a scaly scarf.

"Point taken!" Lucy said, giggling. "Don't we need to be in potions soon?" The Gryffindors and Slytherins present stared at each other for a moment before grabbing their bags and running to the dungeons.

"Hey Levy! Tell Rogue Skiadrum's with me!" Hermione yelled as they left the hall.

"I think we're going to make it! We're going to make it!" Harry yelled.

"Mr Potter..." A voice drawled from the shadows, and Harry stopped, his shoulders slumping.

"Or not," he muttered.

"Go to your dormitories, now! All of you!" The potions professor said sharply. "Classes have been cancelled."

Draco made his way to the front of the group. "What's going on, Professor?" He demanded loudly.

Snape looked at him as though considering whether to tell them or not. "While on patrol earlier, Alastor Moody found the body of Mr Bartemius Crouch."

"When you say body..." Lucy trailed off, looking rather pale.

"Yes, Miss Heartfilia, he was dead. Now go, all of you!" He said, catching Hermione's eye and nodding almost imperceptibly.

Hermione mentally rolled her eyes - he had to leave it up to her to get away, didn't he? He couldn't just...give her detention or something?!

She walked quickly to catch up with Harry. "Hey, Harry, do you still have that map?" She asked, thinking quickly. She could borrow it and tell the others she was looking for a teacher, one that wasn't going to cross paths with them.

"Yeah, why 'Mione?" He asked, pulling the seemingly blank piece of parchment out. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he said, and the others gasped, having not seen it before.

Hermione saw that McGonagall was outside, and snatched the map off of her friend. "Thanks, Harry, I just need to check with McGonagall about something really quickly - you lot go on without me, I'll be back soon!"

Harry nodded, and led the group away. When they were gone, Hermione glanced back at the map to make sure that Severus was still in the dungeons. When she saw that he was, she almost put the map away - but a certain name caught her eye. What was Barty Crouch, the man whose supposed _dead body_ had been found earlier that day doing in Snape's office?

Hermione crept along the corridor and peeked through the door that was slightly open, seeing...Alastor Moody?! She checked the map again - it was still saying Barty Crouch. Something wasn't right...

As stealthily as she could, Hermione aimed her wand at the man. "Stupefy! Expelliarmus! Petrificus totalus! Incarcerous!" She yelled, using one of the spell-chains she had read about. The man's wand clattered onto the floor, and he fell forward.

Checking the map once again, just to be sure her eyes hadn't been playing tricks on her, Hermione saw that the man was still supposedly Bartemius Crouch. It also appeared that Severus had heard her, as he was quickly making his way down the corridor.

"Hermione! What's going on?" He said as he saw the other man on the floor.

Hermione turned to her professor. "Harry has a map that shows where people are in the castle, and when I took it as part of my excuse to come find you, I saw that someone was in your office - Barty Crouch!" She held out the map for him to see, and he frowned.

"Homonus revelio!" He said, pointing his wand at the frozen man, his eyebrows shooting up as 'Alastor Moody' began to change. Within a minute, the true identity of the man that lay before them was revealed, when Severus flipped him over and saw that face - one that he remembered from his days as a Death Eater.

"Well, Hermione. The map wasn't wrong after all. This man is Bartemius Crouch - Bartemius Crouch _Junior_ , son of the now deceased elder Barty Crouch." He frowned. "I'm guessing that he was the one who killed the poor man, and then pretended that he had found his body. How the hell did he get out of Azkaban?!"

Hermione rolled her eyes as the man started to ramble. "You'd be better off asking these questions to the man himself - preferably under the influence of Veritaserum. You also might want to get a hold of Madame Bones, or at least a couple of aurors, so they can lock him up for now. I don't think Hogwarts is the safest place to hold an escaped criminal - and I doubt this one's innocent like Sirius!"

It was pure, dumb luck that Amelia Bones had been asked to come and investigate Barty Crouch Senior's death. Pure, dumb luck that she was the one who came down to the dungeons to find Professor Snape, the only teacher missing. And it was pure, dumb luck that she heard Hermione's last statement.

"Sirius?! As in Sirius _Black_?! _He's innocent_?!" She shrieked from the doorway.

Hermione and Severus spun round at the sound of her voice, and the professor rolled his eyes. "Of course he is! Didn't you ever notice that Black was never given a trial? That he was just thrown straight into Azkaban?" If anyone had told him just a year ago that he would be defending his childhood enemy, Severus Snape would have had them sent straight to St Mungos.

Hermione snorted, thinking the same as the potions master. "I think I'm going to sit this one out, if you don't mind - I've decided to make it a rule to only rescue one member of the Black family per week." She summoned a vial, and placed her memory of the night they found out the truth about Sirius in it. "Here you go, more lovely evidence for your department to pardon another wrongly accused Azkaban convict!"

She skipped, _skipped_ , out of the door, leaving behind a shocked Madam Bones and amused Severus. "Damn Gryffindors," he muttered fondly. "Wonderful to see you as always, Madam Bones, and perfect timing. There's another criminal for you to take care of before Sirius Black - and this one actually did commit the crimes he's been accused of." He gestured towards Barty Crouch Jr's still body, patting the head of the DMLE on the back as he went to go find Albus and give the old coot a piece of his mind - yet another incompetent DADA teacher, and this one was a god damned _murderer_ as well.

"I think I must be dreaming...yes, that's it, maybe I'll wake up and this'll all have been a bad dream..." Madame Bones mumbled to herself, levitating the younger Crouch's body behind her as she left the dungeons.

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 **A/N - Hermione Granger; brightest witch of her age, and constant headache for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement... Poor Madame Bones, having to constantly clean up the Ministry's mess - but yay, Sirius' name will finally be cleared! Is that it? I think everyone who needs saving has been saved already (except for Moody but I'm sure Dumbledore will find him at some point).**

 **Anyway, we're getting close to the end now, so review before it's too late •^_^•**


	22. Chapter 21: Easter Time

**Aha, I know I didn't post last week - gommenasai! I've (not so) recently started watching Hetalia, and as always, a new obession = a whole new collection of fanfics. If you watch Hetalia - you have excellent taste, and if not you should go and watch it RIGHT NOW! Anywayyyy, between the reading and a couple of one-shots that I wrote (the plot bunnies, y'know...) I neglected to update this fic - again, super sorry!**

 **What a tangent...back to the real reason I'm writing this lil' AN/intro-**

 **Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter or Fairy Tail...**

 **(and Merry Christmas! •^_^•)**

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Dinner on the first night of the Easter holidays was a rather awkward affair. Everyone who had been at the Manor at Christmas had returned, this time with the addition of Draco, Blaise and Meredy - and Narcissa and Bellatrix, who were already staying there, of course. What made it really awkward was the presence of Sirius and Severus.

The two men sat watching each other for the first half of the meal, making the whole atmosphere rather tense. That was, until Severus tried to lift a spoonful of chocolate mousse to his mouth, and missed because he was too busy focussing on his childhood enemy. It wasn't so much the chocolate smeared on his face - though that was quite funny - but rather the look of shock on the man's face that set Sirius off laughing.

Severus tried to look indignant, but lost the internal struggle and soon he was laughing as well. This went on for several minutes, and by the time both men had recovered, tears were streaming down their faces. Narcissa was hiding a smile behind her hand, and Bellatrix was grinning outright. The meal returned to normal - this time without the awkward atmosphere, and Sirius and Severus exchanged a brief smile before tucking into their meals again.

* * *

Later on, when the children had disappeared into their rooms, the Grangers, Blacks and Severus sat in the drawing room, Sirius catching up with his cousins and Severus having a conversation with the Grangers about their magical zoo.

"Wait, so Bella still has the mentality of a fifteen year old?" Sirius asked, smirking evilly. "Does this mean that she's still scared of clowns, then? I thought she'd gotten over that fear years ago, but it must've been the curse! Oh, this is brilliant, I still have that weird box thing that makes one spring out when you step on it!" He started cackling, and Bella went as white as a sheet.

"Sirius, I swear to god...if you dare use that blasted thing on me ever again, I will personally bring your mother back from the dead and tell her about that time you stole her favourite perfume and blamed it on Regulus!" Now it was Sirius' turn to pale, and Severus snorted in the background.

"No need to bring her back - there's a portrait of the old bat hanging in Grimmauld Place!" He said gleefully, enjoying the sight of Sirius passing out.

"Nooooo!" He yelled as Narcissa shocked him awake with a jet of icy water. "Anything but her! Anyone but her!" He turned to Severus, who was still smirking. "I feel so betrayed. How could you!" He clutched at his heart dramatically, and the potions master rolled his eyes.

"It's called being a Slytherin, Black. Maybe you should try it sometime," he sneered, without any real malice behind the words.

Sirius sat up, turning his head toward his old nemesis. "Heheheh!" He giggled, and Severus blanched.

"Whatever you are planning, stop right now. We are guests of Dan and Jean, and it would be extremely bad manners to use their house as the battleground for a prank war!" He said, backing away from the crazed Gryffindor.

"Heheheheh! You don't know!" He giggled, rolling around on the floor now. "That old goat didn't tell you!"

"What, you blasted idiot?!" Severus yelled, and Sirius rolled over so he was facing the other man.

"You're looking at the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher!" He announced, grinning madly at the horrified look on the potions master's face.

"You...oh god, no! How are you even qualified?" He said, not enjoying this new turn of events.

"You forget, I spent several years as an auror before being thrown into Azkaban! Also, according to old Dumbles, the teachers have set places, and the DADA professor always sits with the potions professor - so we get to sit next to each other at mealtimes, Sevvy!" Sirius seemed delighted that he was causing his new colleague this much discomfort.

"I think I preferred Snivellus to 'Sevvy'..." He muttered darkly. "I'll hand it to you, Black, you certainly know how to pull off a Slytherin manoeuvre if needed. I misjudged you." He offered the other man a hand to help him to his feet. "A truce, for now. The war starts when we return to Hogwarts, and is limited to only nonlethal pranks, and anything that would harm students is out as well."

Sirius shook his hand, grinning darkly as he began to run through all of the pranks he use on to his opponent.

Severus was also thinking similar thoughts, but he was also considering involving the Weasley twins on his behalf. _Yes_ , he thought, mentally applauding himself. That's the best way to do this.

"Hey, Hermione?" Harry asked his friend at breakfast a few days later. "Why is Professor Snape here?"

Hermione, who had been falling asleep, jolted upwards, her eyes going wide. "I, uh...well, you see..."

Yukino sighed. "Just tell him. It hurts just watching you try and wriggle your way out of this one."

Hermione stuck her tongue out her friend. "Okay. Well, Harry, the truth is that Professor Snape is my great grandson from several years in the future, who was thrown back in time by-"

She was cut off by Sirius snorting, milk spewing from his nose as he tried, and failed, to contain his laughter.

"Yeah, no one's buying that, 'Mione." Harry deadpanned, but Hermione could see the corners of his mouth twitching as if he was trying to hide a smile.

She sighed, seeing no other option. "Kinda knew you wouldn't believe that one. Professor Snape has been sorta tutoring me in potions for a few months now. He's teaching me other stuff as well - like the Patronus charm. Mine isn't as good as yours yet, but it's getting there." Hermione braced herself for his outburst.

"Oh, cool." She wasn't expecting him to say that, and then return to his breakfast.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Manor, Severus was having a conversation with the Weasley twins.

"Wait, so to sum it up, you'll let us into your NEWT class no matter what our OWLs are, we can use your lab for our joke products whenever we want, and you'll take us on as apprentices if we want to pursue a Mastery in potions at any point? And all you want is for us to help you prank Sirius?" Fred asked, taken aback by the professor's offer.

Severus nodded. "I will do whatever is necessary to win this war."

The twins shared a smile at his serious tone. "Deal - except for the first part. If we make it into NEWT level potions, we want it to be on our own merit."

The potions professor was surprised, but agreed anyway. Whatever it took...

"Okay, here's the first plan..." For the next few hours, nobody saw him or the twins, and Hermione was on her guard for the rest of the day, expecting to be pranked at any moment.

After the first week of the holiday, Viktor and Petya arrived, along with Mila and Alyksander.

"My-nee!" They yelled, throwing themselves into their 'big sister's arms. She just laughed and spun them round, before putting them down to greet their older brothers.

"Welcome to Granger Manor, boys!" She said, linking arms with them and dragging them to the boys dorms.

"We shifted the rooms round a bit, so you two are in with Gajeel and Panther-Lily. Alyksander will either be in here with you, or he can stay with his sister in our room if he wants," she explained on the way, narrowly missing Gajeel's face as she threw open the door.

"Damnit, Frizzy! It's polite to knock, y'know!" He yelled, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "My house, my rules. Don't pout, Gajeel, it doesn't suit you."

The iron dragon-slayer tried to glare at her, but the effect was lost as she had already turned to leave.

"Ally will bring your bags up, so just come downstairs whenever - you can call her to show you the way to the drawing room," she said as she left.

That night, Hermione, the older Krum brothers, all the adults and most of their guests stood round a huge map of the manor grounds.

"So do you all understand?" Hermione said. "Natsu and Happy, you take this section, Harry and Gray go with Elfman and do the West garden, Lucy and Levy are with me doing the East garden. You adults can split into two groups and do the North and South gardens. The rest of you divide into groups of two or three and do the rest of the rooms marked on the map."

She handed them all baskets of chocolate eggs, and they set to work hiding them.

"Why'd you put some people in groups but let the others choose?" Lucy asked as the walked through the garden.

Hermione laughed. "Well, I gave Natsu and Happy the room with no breakable things, and the adults are doing the garden because I don't trust Severus and Sirius together either! I had to assign Gray to a team and location, because otherwise the bloody pinky would complain, and I just wanted you two with me."

"Fair point!" Levy said, grinning. "Natsu is a bit of a moron."

"Hey, that's my boyfriend you're talking about!" Lucy laughed.

Hermione's eyebrows shot up into her hairline. "Is he now?"

Lucy seemed to realise her slip-up, and backed away from the other two girls.

"I, ah...oh look, I've run out of chocolate eggs! Well, I must be getting to bed then, goodnight!" She yelled, and ran off back to the girls' room.

Hermione sighed. "Never mind, we can grill Natsu about it tomorrow," she said, and Levy nodded in agreement.

"Let's get these eggs hidden, and then we can go back, it's starting to get cold," the blunette said, shivering in her pyjamas.

Hermione was woken the next morning by a pair of excited twins. "My-nee! My-nee! Wake up, the Easter Bunny came!" They yelled, grinning madly.

Hermione smiled at them. "Did he now? Well then, we'd better go find those eggs!" She said, picking up her basket before waking the other girls. They all went outside, and joined the boys and adults, who had apparently been woken up by Alyksander and Mila's squealing.

Erza summoned one of her guns. "Ready? On your marks...get set...GO!" She fired it into the air, and the magic pistol made a pretty firework as everyone rushed off"

"Bet I can find more eggs than you, Sevvy!" Sirius taunted, making Severus roll his eyes.

"As if. I'm definitely going to beat you, Siri!" He had given the Gryffindor a nickname in an attempt to annoy him, but Sirius was more pleased with it.

"With the way you two boys are bickering, neither of you are going to win!" Bella taunted, rushing past with Narcissa.

* * *

Sirius and Severus stared at the pile of eggs the twins had amassed. "No way..." Sirius whispered. "Did they really get this many?!"

Hermione walked over. "Yeah, I was more than prepared to switch some of my eggs into their baskets - in fact, I kept a few spare just for that, but then they came back with this..."

"We have been well and truly beaten, Sevvy," he declared, shifting into his dog form before padding over to the twins and whining softly.

"...is he trying to beg for chocolate?" Hermione asked Severus, who nodded grinning.

"Wait for it," he told her, watching the scene with anticipation.

"Bad doggy! If you have chocolate, you get sick, and doggy can't get sick! So no chocolate for doggy!" Mila said, offering Sirius a bone instead.

Severus laughed so hard that he started to cry, and Sirius turned an accusatory glare to him. He ran at them, taking the potions professor down and sitting on him until he apologised.

"Okay...okay, Siri! I'm sorry! Please, I cant breathe!" He laughed, and the dog rolled off him, turning back into a human as he did so.

"That was mean!" Sirius said crossly, actually _pouting_.

Severus didn't have a chance to respond, because Bella suddenly ran over to him, cackling gleefully. "I got more eggs than you, cousin! You got twenty five, and I got twenty six!" She said with obvious delight before skipping away.

Sirius looked at his basket in horror. "Nooooo!" He moaned, putting his face in his hands.

"I beat Sirius Black, I beat Sirius Black!" Bella was singing in the background. Sirius turned into Padfoot, and chased after her, hoping to steal one of her eggs. "You gonna get me?" She giggled.

Soon Enyo joined the chase, as did the twins. "Bad doggy! No chocolate for doggy!" They were yelling as Sirius got closer to Bella's basket.

Severus watched the chaos with tears of laughter in his eyes, and Hermione just face-palmed. "And we haven't even had breakfast yet!" She muttered.

* * *

 **A/N - Bonus Easter chapter (even though it's Christmas Eve...)- did anyone get to reference to the DoM scene from OotP? The prank war will go down in Hogwarts history...or rather, Hogwarts: A History. Yes, Sirius is a very bad doggy for trying to eat the chocolate...my thoughts are going everywhere rn. Also, Sirius' nickname from 'Sevvy' - Siri, as in the annoying automated voice you may have heard of that almost always starts up when I sit on my phone *sigh*.**

 **Mila and Alyksander would be very happy if you reviewed this fic •^_^•**


	23. Chapter 22: Third Task

**Aha, a few days late, but I've been pretty busy with the rest of the holidays, and only get the chance to update now! Anyway, the third event is finally here! Not much longer to go...**

 **Disclaimer: Yeah, still don't own Harry Potter or Fairy Tail**

* * *

"Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's finally here! The moment you've all been waiting for - the third and final event of the 1994 Triwizard Tournament!" Ludo Bagman announced.

The stadium erupted in loud cheers, colourful flags being waved all over the place.

"Now our competitors! Currently in first place, with a total of twenty points: Mahoutokoro Academy of Magical Prowess!" Erza and Rogue ran out onto the Quidditch Pitch - or rather, the part the wasn't covered by a giant maze. "In second place, we have Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with a total of ten points!" Harry and Cedric joined them. "And last but not least, Durmstrang School for Young Witches and Wizards, who currently have no points!" Viktor and Petya walked out onto the pitch, and when they reached the others, Bagman explained what was happening.

"In the centre of this maze, you will find the Triwizard cup! Whichever team finds the cup first most likely win - gaining ten points. Second and third place will also be awarded according to points - so you Durmstrang boys also have a chance to win! However - it won't be that easy. This maze is filled with monsters, traps and puzzles of every kind, and if you meet your fellow competitors, you must engage in battle! As the current leaders, Mahoutokoro will enter first, followed by Hogwarts five minutes later and Durmstrang five minutes after that. If you are in mortal peril, shoot red sparks up into the air, but know that this will mean immediate disqualification from this event, and therefore, no points! Ready? Set! GO!" Rogue and Erza rushed towards the entrance of the maze.

Hermione craned her neck, trying to see anything in the maze, but she couldn't.

"What's the point in this if we can't see anything - I mean, why don't we just wait inside for the champions to finish if we don't know what's happening inside the maze!" Lucy moaned, and Hermione nodded in agreement.

"Plus, what if anyone's actually injured?! How the hell can you see the red sparks?!" Lisanna pointed out. Hermione's shoulders tensed up immediately, and Lisanna's yes widened in realisation. "Damn...sorry, Hermione! Rogue will be fine, I'm sure of that - he's a dragon-slayer, remember? They're practically indestructible!"

Lucy laughed. "Yeah - and trust me, I would know! I'm pretty sure Natsu doesn't know what 'giving up' means!"

Hermione smiled at her friends. "You're right! Rogue can handle anything this stupid maze can throw at him! I guess I should be more worried for the other teams that meet him and Erza!"

"Woooooo! Go Erza!" A voice yelled from the left of them.

All three girls turned as one, sweat dropping when they saw Natsu and Gray. The two boys were wearing jackets that depicted Erza's face and waving scarlet pom-poms around.

"Do they even realise how ridiculous they look?!" Lucy moaned, putting her head in her hands.

Levy skipped over. "Ah, don't worry Lu-chan! Odds are, Erza'll beat them for it when she gets out! You know what she's like!"

"Oh, hey Levy. Are the others here somewhere as well?" Hermione said, greeting the blunette.

"Yeah, they saved a couple of rows over this way. C'mon, I'll take you to them." The girls followed her to where everyone bar Rogue, Erza, Natsu and Gray were sat.

As they grew closer, they could hear yells and a few thumps. "What the hell are they doing?" Hermione asked, and Levy rolled her eyes.

"When I left, they were fighting, our lot were fighting with Draco, Ginny, Blaise, the Weasley twins, Luna and Neville about whether Mahoutokoro or Hogwarts was going to win. Then they started yelling about who's going to be the individual champion. Fairy Tail - and Jellal, of course - were saying Erza, Sabertooth saying Rogue and your lot were all for Harry," she sighed, shaking her head.

Hermione laughed. "Well, I don't think we'll be bored, at least, waiting for the task to finish."

Lucy nodded, guiding them towards the least rowdy row. "Hey, Minerva! Yukino!" She said, spying the other girls. "Have you seen Wendy?"

Yukino nodded, gesturing to the box where all the teachers were sat. "Porlyusica came over for the final event, and Wendy wanted to catch up with her." Seeing Hermione's confusion, Lucy rushed to explain.

"Headmaster Makarov and Porlyusica are married, but they have a...rather _dysfunctional_ relationship, to say the least. When she and her brother turned up a few years ago, Wendy was too young to even attend Mahoutokoro prep, so Porlyusica took her in. She's something like a mother or aunt to her - it's actually really sweet!" The blonde celestial mage smiled. "Yeah, she's always saying how much Porlyusica remind her of Grandeena - her dragon."

"Aww! Who's her brother? Is he here?" Hermione asked, and Lucy laughed.

"Yeah - both of them are! The brother she arrived at Mahoutokoro with was Mystogan Fernandes - the one who's always with Ultear. Her other brother is Jellal." Lucy grinned as Hermione gasped in surprise. "Yeah, I know! The year after Wendy and Mystogan arrived, Jellal and Erza joined. It was kind of obvious that they were twins - I mean, they're identical!"

"How...did I never realise..." Hermione said, her eyebrows drawing together as she thought back on it.

"Don't worry about it! Hardly anyone ever does, which is kinda weird, but we've all gotten used to it by now! Natsu thought they were the same person for an entire _year_!" Lucy snorted, and everyone laughed.

"Yeah, your boyfriend isn't the brightest, is he?" Hermione said.

Minerva gasped. "Whaaaat?!" She yelled. "You two are dating now?! When did this happen?! Details - now!"

Hermione shared a smug look with Levy. Ever since the slip up at Easter, Lucy had avoided the subject like the plague, and nothing they did would make her talk. Minerva was another matter, however.

"Alright, alright, I'll tell you!" Lucy cried, submitting to Minerva's torture after only a few minutes. "It was a few weeks before Easter. Natsu, the clueless idiot that he is, got it into his head to ask Mira for date ideas." Everyone shivered at the mention of the demon matchmaker. "We ended up having a picnic in the Forbidden Forest - at night - and it didn't go too well. We ended up in the middle of an acromantula nest, and when Natsu got us out of there, he asked me to be his girlfriend. It wasn't very romantic in the end, but it was still sweet how hard he'd tried. We headed back to Hogwarts and grabbed a bite to eat from the kitchen, and then we stayed up late talking about random things. When I woke up, I was in my bed in the dorm, and the only thing left was this necklace." She held up a pretty silver necklace with a flame-shaped ruby on the end of it.

The group let out a collective aww, and Minerva hugged Lucy. "Who knew he could be so sweet! You've got yourself a keeper there!"

Lucy wriggled out of the other girl's embrace. "What about Sting, hmm? You two _did_ go to the ball together!"

Now it was Minerva's turn to blush and stutter, and the girls descended on her like a flock of hungry seagulls.

* * *

For the next hour, everyone was occupied either fighting over who the winner would be or talking about the budding relationships that were happening. So it was a shock when Ludo Bagman finally announced that a team had finally found the cup.

"And it appears we have our first place team, ladies and gentlemen! Having found the Triwizard cup, and therefore completed the task, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry receive ten points, bringing their total up to twenty points! This is a-what's this? Red sparks have been launched from near the centre of the maze! We'll know in a few minutes whether this was Mahoutokoro or Durmstrang..." Bagman blathered on, but Hermione stopped listening as soon as she saw who they were carrying out of the maze. Rogue.

She ran down the steps of the stand, heading towards the medical tent. When she reached it, she barged past the aurors at the entrance and made her way to her boyfriend's side.

"Rogue..." She whispered, and his head turned towards her.

"Hermione? Don't-don't cry! Hey, it's fine, see? I'm here, I'm fine," Rogue said, resting a hand on her cheek.

The brunette burst into tears, burying her face in his chest. "Don't do that! When they carried you out...I thought...I thought something bad had happened to you! I thought you were..." _Dead_. The thought lay unvoiced between them.

"Don't worry, Hermione. I'm a dragon-slayer - we're hard to kill! Otherwise Natsu would have been dead and six feet under years ago!" The last thing he expected was for his witch to laugh, but she did.

"S-sorry...it's just funny, because that's exactly what Levy and Lucy said earlier!" She smiled at him. "So what happened out there?"

Rogue sighed. "We...my shadows told me we were getting close, and I told Erza...I guess we were just careless. There was a monster, near the centre of the maze, and it...feeds on fear. When we encountered it, it trapped Erza in a nightmare, and she couldn't break free. I...there was nothing I could do. I sent up the red sparks, but then it finished draining her and moved on to me. I'll be fine, I was only under for about ten seconds before the teachers pulled us out, but Erza...two, maybe three minutes." His eyes rose to meet hers. "It...it's like...if you were to take your worst nightmare, and combine it with your worst fears, and then make that all you could see, hear, think and feel. I could _smell_ the blood, Hermione..."

She leaned forward and embraced him tightly. "It's over now, Rogue. All of it - and I think you're tied first with Hogwarts."

There was a commotion over by the bed Erza was in, and both Rogue and Hermione shot up to get a better look. It was Wendy - she was healing the redhead. Erza groaned and sat up slowly.

"Wh-what happened?" She asked groggily. Jellal grabbed her in his arms, and Hermione could see the tears in his eyes from where she was stood.

"You were...injured, in a sense, in the maze. Wendy just healed you," Jellal said, not loosening his grip on his girlfriend. "Erza...I was so scared. I thought I'd lost you," he murmured into her hair.

Erza's eyes softened as she hugged him back. "It's fine. I'm fine. Don't worry, Jellal. I'll never leave you. You...you have my heart."

Jellal stood up and dropped to one knee. "That's good to know..." He drew out a blue velvet box. "Erza Scarlet, you have been the light of my life ever since I first laid eyes on your pretty red hair. I've already given you one surname...please, could I give you another? Will you marry me?"

Erza gasped and her hands flew to her mouth. "Jellal..." She whispered, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "I...yes! Yesyesyes! A thousand times _yes_!" She flung herself into his arms, tears flowing freely from both of their eyes.

"Thank you, Erza...you've made me the happiest man alive..." He murmured, slipping the ring onto her finger.

Hermione smiled, slipping her hand into Rogue's and leading him outside.

"-with Mahoutokoro having been disqualified in this task, and Durmstrang arriving at the centre of the maze, we can now reveal not only the points for this task, but the overall winners of the 1994 Triwizard Tournament! In last place, Durmstrang School for Young Witches and Wizards, with a total of five points!" There was a loud round of applause and whooping from the Durmstrang students. Viktor and Petya didn't look very happy with the results, but they smiled at Hermione and Rogue anyway. "Next we have a rather unique result - one that has not occurred in a long time! Both with a total of twenty points, and therefore tied for first place, are Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Mahoutokoro Academy of Magical Prowess!" The cheers for Mahoutokoro were almost deafening. "Yes, well done to both teams - however, only one team can win! After careful deliberation, the judges have decided that as Mahoutokoro was disqualified in this round, and Hogwarts in none, the winning school of the 1994 is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

The stadium erupted in noise as Cedric grabbed a shocked Harry, laughing as he hugged the younger boy.

"Yeah! Go Harry! Go Cedric! Hogwarts for the win!" Hermione yelled, and Harry shot her a grin.

"Now that we have our winning team, all that is needed is to announce the individual champion! Tied in fifth, each with thirty points are Viktor Krum and Harry Potter! In fourth, we have Petya Krum with thirty five, in third Cedric Diggory with forty five and in second Erza Scarlet with fifty points!" Bagman said, and Hermione turned to stare at Rogue.

"Rogue...this means..." She whispered, and Rogue nodded, completely speechless.

"Which means in first place, with a whopping _seventy points_ , we have Rogue Cheney of Mahoutokoro Academy of Magical Prowess!" Bagman's final announcement was greeted with such noise that it made all the other reactions seem tame!

Mahoutokoro had started up a steady chant. "Rogue! Rogue! Rogue! Rogue!"

Hermione hugged her boyfriend, and kissed him deeply in front of the whole crowd. When they broke apart, there were more than a few wolf whistles, and the couple blushed bright red, staring into each others eyes.

"Well done..." Hermione said, smiling at Rogue.

He smiled back at her, and draped an arm around her waist before dragging her over to where their friends were waiting.

* * *

 **A/N - Did you like the results? I wanted Mahoutokoro to win, but I also wanted Rogue to win, and it was kind of unfair for the same school to win both categories! I kept Hogwarts as the winners because why the hell not, and I had to add that little Jerza scene in there! Can you practically hear the shippers chanting now? One more chapter - the final one, and Hermione and the other Hogwarts students have to say goodbye to their new friends *sniffle*.**

 **We may be at the end of this fic, but I still welcome your reviews with open arms!•^_^•**


	24. Chapter 23: Goodbye

**Ayyyyyy it's the last chapter *sobs*!**

 **I hope you all enjoyed reading this fic, and now, for the last time...**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or Harry Potter •^_^•**

* * *

Hermione watched sadly as Lucy picked up her packed suitcase.

"I'll really miss you, 'Mione!" The blonde cried, wrapping her arms around her friend.

Tears spilled over onto Hermione's cheeks as she hugged the girl back. "Me too, Lucy!"

They went down into the common room, where everyone else was saying goodbye, most people crying. Every student was losing someone - a new friend, girlfriend or boyfriend. Hermione herself was not looking forward to saying goodbye to Rogue - and Skiadrum too, but she couldn't help the smile that crept onto her face when she saw Fred and Cana blubbering over each other in the corner, between sips of firewhiskey.

Slowly, they all made their way outside to where the Durmstrang ship and _Christina_ were waiting, and said their final goodbyes as the luggage was put on first.

Blaise was kissing the back of Lisanna's hand, making her blush, and Hibiki did the same thing with Ginny. Draco and Meredy were huddled together on a bench, Draco holding her hand as they talked in hushed voices. Gray's brother Lyon had started up a relationship with Padma Patil, and was saying goodbye to her, the shy Ravenclaw girl blushing as he kissed her. Mira was in absolute heaven with all the couples around her, and she dragged her own boyfriend, Freed, with her as she ran around getting pictures of everyone.

Hermione smiled as she caught sight of Harry with Yukino; her best friend looking more relaxed than she'd ever seen. Her mind drifted back to the meeting they'd had with Severus and Sirius a few days ago.

 _"Using the information they extracted from Barty Crouch Junior, the aurors were able to set up a trap for Voldemort at the graveyard," Severus said in his usual indifferent tone, but Hermione could see that the tension in his body was gone - as if a great weight had been lifted from him._

 _"Yeah, he's gone - and he's not coming back this time," Sirius grinned, suddenly finding his arms full of Harry._

 _"That's...the best news I've ever heard..." He whispered, and Sirius hugged his godson back._

 _"Yes. Yes it is. Also..." Sirius hesitated, and Harry looked up at him. "I mean, it's fine if you don't want to, but...now that the Ministry's cleared me...do you want to live with me, Harry? I know you don't much like those muggles, but they're still your family, so I understand if you want to stay with them and-"_

 _Harry cut him off by hugging him again. "Of course, Padfoot. There's nothing I'd like more."_

Hermione was brought back to the present by a pair of arms circling her body. She leaned back, breathing in the comforting scent of Rogue.

"I'm really going to miss you," he murmured into her hair and Hermione sighed, turning to face him.

"Me too. You will come and visit in the summer, won't you?" She asked, carefully memorising the lines of his face.

His mouth quirked up on one side in a smile. "Of course. As long as you visit me. I'd love to show you Japan."

"And I'd love to see it!" She replied. "Umm, I'm not supposed to tell anyone this...but...Dumbledore's talking with your Headmaster to arrange an exchange program of sorts. So...I might see you next year. Hopefully, anyway."

Rogue hugged her. "Only you, 'Mione!" He laughed, before sobering. "I have something to tell you. Please don't be mad, I didn't keep it from you on purpose, I just...didn't know how to tell you." He scratched the back of his neck. "You, uh, you're my mate. For a dragon...it's basically a soul mate."

Hermione's eyes widened. "Your...your...mate? _Soul_ mate?!" She squeaked, and Rogue nodded. "I...uh...wow. I mean, I don't really understand the full implications of it, but it sounds pretty intense."

"Yeah. Basically it's like...an instinct that tells us dragon-slayers who we're best suited to. You're my best match," he said.

"Aww, that's so romantic! Its a good thing I already know I love you, isn't it?" Hermione said smiling.

Rogue looked startled. "You...love me?" He whispered, and she nodded.

"Of course I do. How could I not?" Hermione replied.

"I love you too, Hermione Granger," Rogue said

"My-nee!" Two voices yelled before Hermione was kncoked over by a pair of flying twins.

"Mila! Alyks!" She said, hugging the twins.

"We'll mis you, big sis!" They sobbed, and Hermione started crying as well.

"I'll miss you two as well!" She said, and became a blubbering mess.

"Mila! Alyksander!" Petya yelled as he and Viktor stopped by the fallen Hermione, trying to catch their breath. "Sor-sorry, Hermyninny. They ran off!"

Hermione smiled at the boys as the twins jumped into their arms.

"Is fine, Vicky and Petty!" They said as one, and the older Krums blushed at the nicknames. "We were just saying goodbye to big sis My-nee!"

"Oh yeah, goodbye Hermyninny. It was lovely meeting you, I hope you write!" Petya said grinning.

"Yes, Her-my-oh-nee. It was good to meet you," Viktor said, actually managing to pronounce her name right.

"It was great meeting all of you too - I'll definitely write! Take care of little brother and sister for me, would you?" She asked winking.

Mila and Alyks smiled at her as she said this, and Petya laughed. "Of course! Goodbye!" The Durmstrang students boarded their ship, Viktor and Petya holding the twins up so they could wave goodbye.

Hermione waved until the ship disappeared, and when it had she turned back to Rogue. "I'll be back soon, I just have to say bye to the others," she said, kissing him on the cheek as she left.

Most of the Mahoutokoro students had moved to stand with each other in preparation for leaving, which made things easier for Hermione. She found all of her friends in one place, and walked over to talk to them.

"Hey guys, I just wanted to say that I'm so glad I met you all, because without you this would have been a pretty damn horrible year! Anyway, I'll miss you all, but I hope I get to see you again, and congrats on your engagement, Erza and Jellal." When she finished, everyone swarmed around her and it turned into a giant group hug.

The last tears were shed, and they made their way onto _Christina_ , leaving only Rogue behind.

"Goodbye, Hermione. I'll miss you...and, uh...I love you." Rogue blushed a deep red.

Hermione smiled, and pulled him in for a kiss. "I love you too, Rogue. And I'll miss you too. Now go on - _Christina_ 's about to leave."

He nodded, dropping a box in her hand as he left. Hermione waved as _Christina_ rose into the clouds, only stopping when Harry and Draco came over to take her back inside. She looked down at the box and opened it carefully, gasping at the beautiful silver ring she saw. A small piece of parchment fluttered out, and Hermione grabbed it before it could float away.

 _Dearest 'Mione,_

 _Don't worry, I'm not proposing yet. This is called a promise ring - it's a promise that I'll return to you. That I won't forget you. A reminder that I love you. My mate._

 _All my love, Rogue._

Her eyes filled with tears - happy tears - and she slid the ring on her finger. It had a sapphire to match the necklace Rogue had given her, and on one side the words 'I love you' were engraved.

Draco rolled his eyes. "What's with all the rings, huh? First mother, then Erza and now you!" He said.

"Wait, what?! Your _mother_?!" Hermione said, and Draco suddenly looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights.

"Oh shit..." He mumbled. "I'm not supposed to say anything...I...oh, mother, how wonderful to see you!" Hermione looked around, trying to spot Narcissa. By the time she realised she had been tricked, Draco was already gone.

"Damn ferret!" She hissed, and Harry choked on a laugh.

"Don't worry, 'Mione! You can find out from Narcissa tomorrow!" Ginny said, looping an arm around her friend's shoulders.

Hermione slumped. "Yeah, I guess. Anyway - important question, Gin, do you want to room with me? And if so, what the hell do we do with the extended room?"

Ginny laughed. "Of course I'm rooming with you - and I say we keep the big room. We can either sleep in there or one of the others if it feels too big."

The girls kept talking about the 'big room' as they walked back to the castle.

"The hell..." Harry muttered under his breath, signalling to Draco that it was safe to come out from behind the tree.

"You have any idea what they were talking about, mate?" The blonde asked him.

Harry held up his hands. "Absolutely clueless."

"Oh well, want to go find Blaise and Neville and see if there's anything to do? I'm so bored and everything's packed," Draco asked, and Harry nodded.

"Hermione!" Jean and Dan said as they spied their daughter. "And Harry, Ginny, Fred and George!"

"Mum! Dad!" Hermione ran to her parents, hugging them tightly.

"Thank you for letting us stay again, Mr and Mrs Granger," Ginny and the twins said, and Jean pulled them in for a hug.

"Nonsense, dears! And again, call me Jean!" She said, and they smiled.

"Thanks for letting me and Sirius stay whilst he gets Grimmauld Place done up," Harry said, and Dan shook his hand.

"Of course, m'boy! Anything for the saviour of the wizarding world!" He jested, and Harry grinned.

"Draco!" Narcissa and Bella yelled as he came off the train. They ran forward, both grabbing him in a hug at the same time.

"Mo...ther...Aunt...Bella...can't breathe!" He said, and they let go of him.

"Sorry, darling, it's just wonderful to see you!" Narcissa said, smiling happily.

"Bellaaaaaa!" Sirius yelled, bounding off the train like a child. "Look what I have!"

When she turned to face him, Bella screamed and started to run. "St-stay away from me, monster!" She shrieked as Sirius crept towards her with a clown mask on.

Severus was the last to disembark, rolling his eyes at his friend's antics. Narcissa squealed and ran forward, greeting him with a passionate kiss.

Hermione, Ginny, Harry, the twins and Sirius looked on in shock as Draco's mother made out with their potions professor.

Hermione's eyes widened as she remembered what Draco said about his mother having a ring. "No way..." She whispered, turning to Ginny who's expression was just as shocked.

"Sevvy - how could you not tell me you were dating my cousin?!" Sirius said, exaggeratedly clutching at his heart.

"Oh, we're not just dating, cousin! Sev proposed to me a few weeks ago!" Narcissa said, holding out her hand to show off her engagement ring to everyone.

Sirius gasped like a fish out of water. He grabbed a hold of Severus' robes and dragged him off. "We need to have a talk!" He muttered, and the potions professor rolled his eyes.

Narcissa sighed. "And now he's going to play the overprotective older brother - cousin, rather - card. Gryffindor idiot."

Fred and George were crying something about their 'poor virgin eyes', and Draco and Harry looked nauseous.

"Not something I ever needed to see, mate," Harry said to Draco, who nodded mutely, looking a rather disgusting shade of green.

After a few minutes, Sirius and Severus returned, both looking fairly unscathed. Except for the matching bruises on their cheeks, but that was to be expected.

"Alrighty then - now that we're all done here, shall we get home?" Dan said, pointing in the direction of the cars.

 _Home_ , thought Ginny, Fred, George, Draco, Narcissa, Bella, Sirius, Harry and Severus at the same time. _What a wonderful word._

* * *

 **A/N - It's overrrr! I don't know how to feel about that, because I loved every minute of this and I don't want it to end, but at the same time I can focus on my other fanfics now - so I'll just say this: thank you to each and every one of you who read, reviewed, favourited and followed this - you readers are the Hermione to my Rogue!**

 **There will be one more chapter of bonus scenes, but the story itself is now finished!**

 **Any final reviews would be most welcome now, and once again, thanks for reading •^_^•**


	25. Chapter 24: Loose Ends

**The very last chapter of this story - just a mini-collection of various one-shots I wrote to round off the story •^_^•**

 **Final one for this story :'( :**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own either Fairy Tail or Harry Potter**

* * *

Hermione and Co goes to Mahoutokoro

Hermione looked up at the school sat on the mountain above her. She could see the crowd of people running towards the gates, and if she squinted she could just about make out a certain shadow dragon-slayer...

Suddenly, she fell over as a large dragon jumped out of the shadows at her.

"Skiadrum!" She cried out, hugging the dragon sat on her.

"Mrrrp!" Skiadrum said cutely.

"Oh no..." Draco said as he said, another dragon flying straight towards him. "Why meeeee?!"

Hermione snorted and rolled her eyes as Shrimp chased him around, eventually catching him and licking his face as she sat on him.

Soon after Shrimp's appearance, the Mahoutokoro students made it to the gates, throwing them open and greeting their guests. Ten students had been chosen to do the exchange, along with two teachers, and all the students that had been selected happened to be dating Mahoutokoro students - well, except Neville.

So, obviously, there was a great deal of snogging as soon as the Hogwarts students reunited with them.

It was at this point that Neville noticed a pretty girl that looked kind of similar to Lucy standing by the gates, looking unsure.

Gathering all the Gryffindor courage he had, Neville walked over to say hi. "Uh, hello. My name's Neville Longbottom, it's nice to meet you," he said, drawing a shy smile from her.

"Michelle Heartfilia. It's nice to meet you too," she replied softly.

"Heartfilia...are you related to Lucy?" He asked, and she nodded.

"My mother and her father were siblings. There was some sort of disagreement between them, and they hadn't spoken for years, but when she passed away last year, she left me a letter so I set out to find him - my Uncle Jude. Unfortunately, he had also passed away, so I ended up searching for his daughter, Lucy. My cousin." Michelle's expression grew sad as she talked about her mother, so Neville put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

Lucy watched from a little way away, smiling as her shy cousin talked to someone other than herself.

"Who's that?" She heard Hermione say.

"My cousin. Her mother died last year, and she found out that she had an uncle afterwards - my father. Then when she found out he was also dead, she came and found me. She's quite shy though - normally she doesn't talk to anyone except me," Lucy explained, and Hermione nodded.

"This could be an interesting year," she commented, smirking.

Lucy grinned. "What with you guys here, Erza's wedding - well, interesting is one way of putting it!"

"Oh yeah...it's going to be something..." Hermione said. "Natsu!" She yelled, and he came running.

"Hey, Hermione, how ya been-" She cut him off with a simple hand gesture.

"Quiet. Bring me Rogue," she demanded.

Natsu pouted. "No. I don't have to serve you!"

Lucy glared at her boyfriend until he grumbled his agreement and left to find the mage in question. Hermione snorted as the fire dragon-slayer ran off. "That's one way to do it, I suppose!"

Lucy was going to respond, but she was cut off by a certain shadow dragon-slayer pulling Hermione into his arms and kissing her deeply.

"Missed you," Rogue murmured.

"Same here," Hermione replied.

* * *

Narcissa's wedding

"Do you, Narcissa Cassiopeia Black take Severus Tobias Snape to be your lawfully wedded husband?" Kingsley Shacklebolt asked, and Narcissa's face lit up with joy.

"I do," she said, her smile radiant.

"And do you, Severus Tobias Snape take Narcissa Cassiopeia Black to be your lawfully wedded wife?" Kingsley asked.

"I do," Severus answered, his eyes never leaving his bride.

"Well then, you may kiss the bride!" Kingsley announced, and Severus dipped his new wife and kissed her passionately.

"Don't watch this," Hermione said, covering Mila and Alyksander's eyes.

Narcissa had decided she wanted a small muggle-style ceremony, of course _small_ was relative, and whilst the guest list was small by Narcissa's standards...

It still contained the names of every single person that Hermione and Draco had been even remotely friendly with during the tournament and all their families as well.

The Krums, Diggorys, and most of the Weasley family to name just a few, plus all of Severus' colleagues and _their_ families, and Narcissa's friends and _their_ families - it was huge!

Sirius had been roped into being best man, although he maintained that the only reason Severus wanted that was so that he would have to wear a tux. Sirius swore he was deathly allergic, and from the way he was itching, it was almost believable. Almost.

"A toast!" He announced later at the table. "To the happy couple! I have known Sevvy for countless years, and anyone who attended Hogwarts with us will be astounded to know that we are now friends rather than enemies. I would tell you the most embarrassing stories of Sevvy, but unfortunately most of them were malicious pranks played by myself and the other Marauders, and I wouldn't feel right sharing those stories knowing the pain they caused for Sevvy. Over the last year, I have gotten to know him better than I ever thought I would, and I can without a doubt say that he is the only man I would ever trust with my babiest cousin. To Sevvy and Cissy!"

Everyone cheered, and whilst Severus glared at his best man, there was no heat behind it.

Hermione smiled as she watched the two, happy knowing that she had even the tiniest part in helping them become friends.

* * *

Little Hangleton

Amelia Bones nodded her head at Auror Dawlish, and the man silently began erecting anti-apparition wards and anti-portkey wards. The other aurors soon followed suit, and once every last ward was set in place, they moved in.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle, also known by the alias Lord Voldemort!" Madame Bones yelled, starting the gathering of Death Eaters, most of whom immediately tried to apparate away. "You are under arrest for countless murders and the attempted genocide of Muggleborn witches and wizards amongst other crimes. Your sentence has already been determined by the Wizengamot and ICW - you are to be killed on sight. Goodbye, Tom."

A green light shot from the end of Madame Bones' wand, instantly stopping the heart of the tiny, barely human creature that Peter Pettigrew was carrying. Pettigrew himself, along with all the other present Death Eaters, were taken into custody for questioning, and would be living out the rest of their miserable days in the cold, dark cells of Azkaban.

* * *

 **A/N - So I may or may not post a sequel, but I honestly don't know because I have problems (BIG problems) with actually managing to finish any fics...this is actually the first one I've ever completed (one-shots not-withstanding). Anyway, if I do, it'll probably revolve around one of the post-GMG arcs from Fairy Tail (and of course Erza's wedding will have its own chapter), so if anyone has any preferences, leave a comment and I'll do my best.**

 **Thank you all for reading, you guys are the light of my life! •^_^•**


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